Second Chances
by Emo-Shukun
Summary: Takashi sacrificed his own happiness for the sake of his brother's by letting him date Haruhi, now they're married. With Satoshi's surprised demise, Takashi must keep his promise to take care of her despite how much she fights him for it. The hardest part is to prevent himself from betraying his brother by admitting his feelings to Haruhi! But he wants a chance at happiness too!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **This is basically a test run to see how many people are interested. If the faves, watches, and reviews are higher than 10 somewhere, I will continue the story.

**Summary:** Takashi sacrificed his own happiness for the sake of his brother's by letting him date Haruhi, now they're married. Something happens to Satoshi on a trip in Germany, leaving his sibling to care for Haruhi in his place. So how can Takashi take care of Haruhi without betraying Satoshi's memory or taking his wife? What can be more difficult than that? Oh, Haruhi's pregnant! Well, a **_"Second_ Chance"** is as good as any other. But can he do it?

**Note:** I _**LITERALLY**_ have over 900 stories, 130 (actually, 129) stories are Ouran. Not all of them are posted because not many of them survive more than 1-3 chapters! That aside, I stay up until 3AM to work on stories majority of the time, and without a Beta in the same timezone [or same country for that matter], forgive the grammar.

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**Chapter 01**

**Second Chances**

**Now—**

_"Taka-nii, I really like Senpai! Is it okay with you if I go on a date with her?"_

* * *

Takashi rubbed the bridge of his nose while he stood at the nose of the private yacht that was taking him to Bali, Indonesia to meet with his younger brother who decided to live at a villa with his family. It was troublesome to leave business at the mercy of their father in order to do Satoshi a favor that he bugged him for over three months about. If it were anyone else asking for his time like this, he would have declined without much thought—except for their cousin, Mitsukuni. Then again, families are supposed to be there for each other, despite a certain little brother being twenty-four years old…

A man approached the quiet man. "Master, we'll be reaching our destination shortly."

The province had been in sight for a while now, and it would not be long until they made birth on their private dock. Only the Morinozuka, the Haninozuka, and the Hitachiin families had a villa in Indonesia while the Ohtori and Suoh families had one in Hawaii, United States. As they steered closer, he could already see the villa in sight, along with a few specks on the beach that grew bigger the closer they got. Impatient as always, it turned out to be Satoshi and his two children playing in the sand. It had been ten months since he had seen them; the three year-old son, Mamoru, and one year-old daughter, Hisako.

Minutes later, the yacht gently gazed against the dock as his brother lured the children to the villa so they would not get on board. Servant from the main house at the Morinozuka estate began hauling his belongs toward the villa while following Takashi to the large beach house. When he entered, he was amazed that everything was clean and still intact. The villa was spotless and still had a homey feeling to the entire place. Moments later, his brother came storming down the stairs in a hurry.

"There you are! I started to think you wouldn't come! If we didn't have our own yacht and jet, I'd probably be late right now!" Satoshi leaped the last three stairs before grasping his big brother's shoulders. "Listen, I don't have time to explain, but please do me a huge favor and tell my wife—"  
"I'm right here, Satoshi. You can tell me yourself." A woman called from the hall upstairs against the railing beside the stairway. Said husband gulped as he looked in her direction. She placed a hand on the rail as she walked down the stairs, "hello Senpai, I'm sorry your brother called you on short notice."  
"Takashi," the brother-in-law corrected. "You're family now, Haruhi." Her head bowed in turn. That said, he retorted to her apology with confusion. "He asked me months ago to book two weeks here to watch over you and the children." Instantly, Satoshi cringed as she gave him the stink eye from Hell itself.

"I see." After a little over a minute, she made it down the stairs. "I should have known as much. He told me that he call you just yesterday to come visit, now I know better." She opened her arms to give him a hug, which Takashi accepted gratefully. "In any case, it's good to see you. How is everyone in Japan?"

He pulled away with a content smile. "Your father wanted to come along to see you, but he doesn't have a passport and seasick, so he wants you to come visit next time." Haruhi hummed agreeably at this.  
"Haruhi, aren't you going to tell him the news?" Satoshi stood beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I don't think I can hold it in much longer if you don't! Please, oh please oh please? If you—"  
"Satoshi, please." Her head shook as she pushed her playful partner at arm's length. "Satoshi wanted to yell if from Mount Everest, but I asked him to wait until I was comfortable with it. But, we're pregnant."  
Takashi was taken aback by this big surprise; she was only twenty-five years old and was already having a third child with Satoshi? At this rate, she might have five before she turned thirty. "Congratulations."

Satoshi watched the interaction between the two before kissing Haruhi on the cheek and running up the stairs to grab his luggage as quickly as he possibly could. He was lucky she was pregnant, otherwise she would ramble and rant at him for lying about Takashi being at the villa to visit. The two looked at one another confusedly; wondering what the big secret was all about. It was not long before he stormed down the stairs with two large suitcases and handing them over to the servants to take to the yacht.

"Okay, so," Satoshi gave Takashi a notebook. "Here's all the things you need to know. Since Haruhi's pregnant, she's extra moody, and I don't want her to exert herself doing chores around the place. The servants know not to let her, but she tries to pull rank on them because she's my wife." He quickly turned to Haruhi, gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek again. "I'll be back in two weeks—love you!"

Just as he turned, Haruhi crossed her arms. "Morinozuka Satoshi." The siblings prickled at the dead serious tone in her voice. "You're not leaving this villa until you tell me the truth about all of this."  
"But I want it to be a surprise!" He faced her with the puppy eyes. "If I tell you, it'll ruin everything."  
"You know I hate surprises, just tell me where you're going and why. Do you really want me to stress over everything while you are away?" Her words hit him hard—causing him to give in to her demands.  
"I'm going to Germany to see about getting us our own estate without having to bother the family."

As the two had a near marital spat, Takashi watched them settle the problem in seconds before giving each other a loving embrace and another kiss before he left. Older, slightly wiser eyes peered down at the young woman to see her gaze lower to the floor before going into the family room where her two children were playing quietly near each other. He watched her carefully get down on her knees and use Japanese Sign Language to tell the children something. The son understood and nodded to his mother while the little daughter became a little upset. Mamoru told his little sister not to cry, and she seemed to have understood by settling down to a brief whimper. No matter how many months pass by, seeing her with his niece and nephew was always amazing. Neither of them had disabilities of any sort, Haruhi just wanted to teach them ways to help communicate better with her as they tried to learn to speak.

He leaned his body against the hallway frame to watch the three play together; wondering would they have been his kids if he had told Haruhi about his feelings before Satoshi could get to her first. It was years ago, granted. Satoshi just entered the high school level at the time, whereas he went to Ouran University to start college. Never in his wildest dreams did he think Haruhi would date his younger brother, let alone marry him and have kids together with him. His attention refocused once Haruhi looked up to see him keeping his distance from their little family session. Not a second later, the doors burst open to reveal a panicked Satoshi who came storming into the family room to embrace his kids.

"Daddy will be back as soon as he can! Daddy loves you, so, so, much!" They giggled and squealed as he blew raspberries on their cheeks one after another. Satoshi almost squeezed them to death, too.  
"I just told them you left, Satoshi." Haruhi used a nearby chair to help herself up.  
"Sorry, I was trying to sneak out before you could scold me. But how can I forget to say goodbye to my favorite children in the world!" He set them down to hurry over and caress Haruhi's stomach. "You too!"  
Although she smiled weakly, she spoke quietly with a hint of worry, "Sato—"  
"You be nice to Mommy and don't give her too much morning sickness!" He turned to his son staring at him. "Mamoru-chan, you're going to protect Mommy, right?" The boy nodded eagerly as his answer.

"Satoshi." Haruhi called a little more firmly, finally earning his attention. "Do you really have to go?"

"It's just two weeks." He came back to her and held her hands. "Taka-nii is going to be with you until I return. Nothing bad is going to happen, I promise! So, until I get back, let Taka-nii take care of you and the kids!" Haruhi removed her hands from him and left the room when it was obvious that he was not going to consider her feelings over leaving to find a home in Germany. "Jeez… hormonal already?"

Takashi was a little worried about how quickly she left the room. "Shouldn't you talk to her?"

"No, we'll just get into a fight about something. She gets like this when she's pregnant—she _hates_ when I leave when she's with child. Always worried that something bad is going to happen or whatever. Just ignore it, that's what I do." Although his brother looked at him unhappily, Satoshi waved it off. "Taka-nii, I want you to _promise_ me that you'll take good care of her and the kids." He nodded. "I can't hear you!"

"I promise, I will take care of Haruhi and the kids."

"Good! I gotta go, see ya!"

Takashi could only watch as he ran out the door, jumped on the yacht, and watched it leave. It was astonishing that Satoshi could leave without clearing the air with Haruhi before running off like that. Then again… it was hard for that guy to stay in run place too long. With the children safe playing together with their nanny nearby, he went in search for Haruhi to make sure that she was okay. A servant passed by, allowing him the chance to ask which way the Lady of the villa was right now. With a quick informative direction, Takashi walked to the hall, down the west wing, walked by twelve rooms before meeting closed double doors with a man standing in front of it. Of course, seeing the Master of the Morinozuka Family, caused the man to bow in respect before leaving to give them privacy to talk.

Well, no time like the present. He knocked on the door, "Haruhi?" There was no answer, causing him to grow worried enough to open the doors without permission. Across the room, she stood at the windows to watch the sun setting over the Indian Ocean. "…Haruhi?" She took in a sharp inhale before turning to him as a sign that he had her attention—that she knew he was there in the library with her.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that in the family room. It's bad enough to show that kind of behavior in front of the children as is." Her hand came up to rub her head as she came over to sit at the desk centered in the room. "I guess your brother left then?" She looked up to see him nod. "And the kids?"  
"They're being cared for." Growing more worried by the minute, he sat on the chair in front of her. "You know, you can be worried about his departure." Her expression almost turned into panic. "I mean, there's nothing wrong about being worried, but he's a man of his word. I'm sure everything will be fine."  
"Even you can't defend him, Sen—" Takashi looked at her, slightly peeved. "Takashi." The annoyance lifted from his face. "He reminds me so much of Hikaru and Kaoru's antics. They would lie to get what they want, and hide things when thinking it's for all the best reasons. All of this changed four years ago."

Steel blue gray hues stared at the teak wood desk with paperwork, booklets, a laptop, and plenty of picture frames on it. Ever since Satoshi learned that he was going to be a father, he changed into a goofy kid again that knew of responsibility, but went at it in different ways. No doubt he was a great father—the children loved him and everything… only it was hard for him to act like an adult again. Even though he was always a playful spirit, he knew when it was time to be serious or when Haruhi needed him most.

"As rude as it is to say this about your brother, but I sometimes wish that he was more down-to-Earth as you are." Haruhi sighed and opened up the laptop to occupy her mind. "Not that it will ever happen."

Hearing this, he shut the laptop before she could start it up. "What do you mean?"

Haruhi looked at him to show that she was too tired to talk about it. "I have to do some work, Takashi." He got the message and stood up. "Sorry, it's just… I really have a bad feeling this time. But you're brother passes it off as being hormonal or over protective. Then he makes promises he doesn't keep."

"Satoshi will come back."  
"But can you foolishly promise it?"  
He hesitated on his answer. "No, I can't."  
"Thank you. For once, I get an honest answer."  
Takashi showed the notebook Satoshi handed to him. "I'll study."

"Oh—I'm so sorry, I completely forgot." She stood up quickly as she began grabbing her laptop and a bag. "We remolded the villa since you've been here. Your room is across from ours—here, I'll take you there, just a second." Haruhi scrambled to gather everything she needed to head up stairs with him.

There was no need for that. "I'll ask a servant to guide me, you shouldn't stress yourself or the baby."  
She finished putting everything in her laptop bag and looked at him. "Please, let me be a good hostess."  
Just like ten years ago, there was no arguing with her. "Ah." His head bowed lightly, and she led the way.

Haruhi headed toward the stairs and encountered a male servant, "Takuya-kun, when you have a chance, can you ask Kiyo-san to give Mamoru and Hisako their bath. When she finishes that, see if she can bring them to my room to be fed—Mamoru gets the soymilk and a light dinner because of his upset stomach, and I should have some left over milk for Hisako in the refrigerator. If not, that's fine, I'll take care of it myself. Also, please have Kiyo-san give her some mandarin and a bit of yogurt? " The man bowed and left to do the task before he forgot anything. "Thank you Takuya-kun."

"Hn…"

Her attention looked up toward the giant. "What?"  
"Nothing." He headed for the stairs to avoid confrontation.  
"You certainly were amused, and I want to know what that is, _Takashi_."  
"Nothing," he repeated as he faced her. "You're very good with children."

"Yeah, well…" Haruhi walked up the stairs to join him. "I wasn't always like that with them. It was hectic with Mamoru, but by the time Hisako came into the world, I felt like I could do anything without having to worry so much about them." When they reached the top of the stairs, she motioned him to go right. "Satoshi always told me to let the nanny take care of them, but I want to be a part of their lives."

"You're a terrific mother."

"You're wrong. You're sweet for saying that, but you're wrong. Satoshi loves to harass me on raining nights when they wake up hungry or something and I can't move a muscle when there's thunder or lightning." Her head shook at the memories of it. "Anyway, here we are." She opened the door to his room for him, and he walked in to investigate everything. "It's not as spacious as before, but if you—"

"It's perfect," Takashi turned to her to assure her that everything was fine. "Thank you."

"I know this used to be your summer home until Satoshi and I moved here a few years ago, but if there's anything you need, our room is over here across from you by the end. The room next to ours is the nursery—if they wake you in the middle of the night, we'll move to the west wing bedrooms for you." Haruhi slightly cringed and placed a hand to her sternum. "Anyway, I'll leave you alone now—"

"Are you okay?"

"Heartburn, common morning sickness." That, or it was from stress, but Takashi did not need to know it. "I'll take my vitamins and take a nap before the kids are ready to eat. Have a good night, Senpai."

"Takashi," he corrected again. Haruhi cracked a smile and closed the door behind herself as she left him.

With her out of the room to distract him, he looked at the walls to see that they were soft gray—almost a tint blue if one stared at it long enough. The curtains over the windows were white and particularly thin enough for the sun to rise into the room to imply of a good morning, but the fabric was high end, too. Against the south wall was a king-sized bed with bed set with what seemed to be merino wool, but it looked very inviting. Just imagining the thought of a good sleep for the first time in years was Heaven. Before he could become engulfed in any more of the room, one of the kids were crying their lungs out.

"Coming, coming." He heard Haruhi as she walked by the room. Curious enough to investigate, he came out to poke his head down the hall to see that it was Hisako having herself a fight. "I know, Papa left you, it's okay, shh…" The nanny, Kiyo, handed the child to her as Mamoru stared at the two girls in his life: his mother and sister. Hisako began to settle down a little and used sign language to ask about her father. "No," she replied while also using sign language. "Daddy went on a trip and said he'll be back." Hearing 'no,' Hisako grew upset and used her hands to mention her mother. "Mama is staying here."

"Mama," Mamoru spoke quietly—almost inaudible even. "Is Papa mad at me?"  
"What—no, of course not." She carefully knelt down to hug him. "He loves you very much."  
"But I Papa say I can play with other kids, but he not here." He became teary eyed at this.  
"Ma-chan, we'll go to the park to meet lots of kids tomorrow, okay? How does that sound?"  
The boy registered her words after a minute, but shook his head. "Papa say 'boys day out' to me."

"Oh, he did, did he?" Her eyes rolled at Satoshi's stupidity. "Okay, when Papa gets back, I'm sure—"  
"Mamoru," Takashi spoke as he came over and knelt beside Haruhi to be less scary. "Remember me?"  
Said boy slightly hid behind the nanny and motioned with his hands. Haruhi smiled. "Yes, Taka-oji."  
"I'm Papa's big brother, can I take you to the park tomorrow?" He mentally called himself crazy.

Mamoru looked to his mother for help to understanding what his uncle was saying. "Taka-oji is a boy, he can go with to the park tomorrow, and then you can go to the park again when Papa returns. Is it okay?" He thought about it, then debated about it, and finally nodded. "Can you say thank you to Taka-oji?"

"Tank you Taka-oji."

Takashi almost chuckled at the sound of the three year-old thanking him. "You're welcome."  
Haruhi stood up and gave Hisako to Kiyo since she calmed down. "She might be ready for a nap, too."  
"Yes ma'am. I'll bathe them separately to let her have a nap." Kiyo bowed her head and took the kids.  
With that down, she turned to Takashi. "Thank you so much for offering to take him to the park."  
"He's family," as if that was the answer to everything. "Does Satoshi do this all the time to you?"  
"More than I care to admit. He loves the kids, but not so much of the responsibilities they come with."  
He gnawed on the inside of his cheek for a moment in thought before replying. "I'll talk to him about it."  
"No, it's fine. I'm not complaining, I just wish he would grow up sometimes, you know?"

"Haruhi, I didn't give him my blessing to date and marry you, just for you to be a single parent."

Perked at his full sentence, she tilted her head to the side a bit. "You gave him your blessings?" Even though he said it in the heat of the moment while submerging his anger, he said something he should not have said at all. "Regardless, you know that I would be upfront with him if I really disliked it."

Takashi turned to head back to his bedroom. "But you won't say anything until your breaking point."

"I love your brother, that won't change." He stopped to hear her out as she spoke. "He may be childish and lack the qualities that it takes to be a parent, but he tries his best in his own way. For that, I can't complain. The children love him dearly." As she thought on it, she bowed. "I won't keep you, goodnight."

Although it sounded as if she was referring to him as a pet, he understood that she meant that she would stop talking so that he could go to his room to do whatever he wanted. It was not what he wanted to do, he just did not want to be in an awkward situation with his brother's wife! Takashi still loved Haruhi after all these years; no one had ever even come close to her personality without tainting that behavior she harbored. It was what he liked about her… how she would be straightforward without ill intentions while understanding that she is another person on the planet like everyone else. He heard a servant walk up the stairs, speaking to Haruhi about a phone call in regards to a dojo in Italy.

"I'm so tired of business for one day," she sighed softly as she picked up the phone from the tray. "Thank you Takuya-kun, I'll tend to the call in my room. That will be all." He bowed in respect before leaving with the tray tucked under his left arm. Her attention turned to Takashi. "Your brother wants a dojo under the family name in Italy and went through it without caring what others thought. Your opinion?"

From everything he had seen and heard, it seemed like Satoshi was in high school again. "It's okay?"

She stuck her tongue at him for agreeing so easily at the backstabbing that her husband did to him without consent. "You're too forgiving on him." That said, she answered the phone, "Morinozuka." A man on the other side requested for Satoshi. "My apologies, my husband is not available. Should you like to talk to him about these matter, I would be happy to give him a message. Otherwise, I would be happy to give you any clarifications or instructions about opening a dojo branch outside of Rome?" The man became a little hesitant in his answer, and started to shy away to say he would call back another time. "I understand. Unfortunately, if the deal isn't closed by the end of the week, we will pursue a branch elsewhere in Europe… I believe it was Slovenia and Austria last I prepared the documents."

Those branches were the ones Takashi knew about, but they were merely brainstorms. He watched her talk on the phone a little longer to manipulate the man into working with her instead of handing the phone to him to deal with the man. It was beyond amusing to see her mentally rough up the man on the line to do business with her, but she won the moment he heard the words 'no, that's not necessary' in a panicked tone. Although they did not need to expand all over Europe as they did Asia and America, she was very good at getting what she wanted. Despite graduating at the university and doing online courses to become a lawyer, she always found time to deal with family business.

"Thank you, I look forward to your fax. Take care." With that, she ended the phone call before sighing heavily. "So he accepted the proposal for the branch and should start construction in two months after everything has been confirmed and the contracts have been signed by you. Congratulations Senpai."

"Takashi." He corrected once more in the past hour.  
Haruhi smirked and walked away, "old habits die hard."  
If only that was the case. "It's been ten years, Haruhi."

"No, we've known each other for ten years, you've been my brother-in-law for five years. College-wise, you're still an upper classmate. Besides," she stopped to look at him over her shoulder. "It's the only way I can playfully tease _Taka-oji_ without losing face." With a smile renewed on her lips, she left.

He also smiled, shaking his head as he went in the same direction, only turning right instead of left.

Even though he did not get to have a romantic relationship with her as he wanted, at least he was lucky enough to call her his sister-in-law. He closed the door behind him so he can get down to business on reading the notebook that Satoshi wanted him to read. There were probably trivial things that did not really matter, but he figured that it would not hurt to look them over just in case they _were_ important.

Yet, the first thing Satoshi puts in the notebook:

Rule #1: Don't allow Haruhi to do business trades or anything regarding business! Stress is bad for baby!

"…ah."

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**A/N:** So, if you like the story, please indicate it somewhere be it faves, alerts, or reviews? Preferably reviews so I can keep track of it better.

Yes, SA II will be finished soon. Health problems and lack of interest prevented me from continuing it.  
BSW is also coming at a slow rate, but surely making progress.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Decent response to the first chapter, thank you. I hope that this can go far, but I would not expect this to be a very big story, 10-15 chapters, probably.**  
**

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**Chapter 02**

**Second Chances**

**Now—**

"Kiyo-san, where is Mamoru?"

The woman looked up from the little girl in hand. "Good morning Haruhi-sama. I believe Takashi-sama took him to the city to go to the park—I thought it was alright to let him since the agreement last night."  
Before the woman could panic, Haruhi nodded. "It's fine, I'm just surprised that he would take him so early in the morning, and without even telling me?" Her eyes rolled at the thought of the apocalypse.  
She giggled in turn. "He said not to disturb you." The familiar words meant that Satoshi put that in the notebook. "If I may be bold, Haruhi-sama?" Said woman looked at the nanny. "Takashi-sama smiling…"  
"Oh, I know. It's weird seeing him smiling, right?" The other nodded at the statement. "I can remember when I first met him, the first time he spoke, smiled, and said my name… caught me by surprise."

"What I wanted to say was… I've been a servant to the Morinozuka family for many years, but never have I seen him smile unless you're somewhere nearby or a part of the topic." Haruhi blinked at her as the words sank in. "I honestly believe that Takashi-sama has been happier since you've joined the family. Even I am happier to have been promoted to watching over the young ones, Haruhi-sama." She bowed.

"Please, you make life so much easier when I have to balance the kids, Satoshi, work, and college." Thinking about this, she smiled warmly as she wrapped herself in her dark violet silk robe. "In fact, go ahead and take the day off." The nanny stared in amazement. "It's okay, I don't mind with Satoshi out."

"T-Thank you very much." Kiyo offered Hisako to Haruhi, bowed happily, and left to enjoy her day.

* * *

"Taka-oji," Hisako looked down at his uncle's held while riding on his shoulders. "When Papa return?"  
"After he finishes business in Germany." He answered honestly as they went to the playground.  
"When Papa finish business in Germy?" The question was too innocent to avoid the slightest chuckle.

"When he can."

Normally, he would never talk a lot or reply so often, but his nephew was an exception. Haruhi, Hisako, and Mamoru had a way of getting him to talk more than a simple grunt or hum. Last time he saw them and Mamoru spoke mostly gibberish because of how shy he was, Takashi found himself doing most of the talking, and earned plenty of praise from Haruhi. The thought of Haruhi waking up came to mind. Not her slowly stirring under the bedspread in the morning light, or the shift from peaceful slumber to a cute barely awoken daze… but how worried she might have been when realizing that Mamoru was gone. Hopefully the nanny explained everything to her so she would not be upset.

"Park."

Takashi looked up a little to see his nephew's tiny hand angled in a direction with his tiny finger pointing in the direction. Sure enough, there were a few toddlers at the small playground. There were only four, and three of them were boys. It seemed like their mothers brought them to the park since there were no sign of men anywhere in the vicinity. Everyone, children and adults alike, watched Takashi removed the boy from his shoulders and on his feet to play whatever he wanted. Mamoru started to dart for the slides immediately until seeing some carnations in a large flowerbed, and went over to pick four out.

The women began speaking in English, bickering about the boy picking flowers.

Mamoru understood a little of the language, but it did not stop him from coming over to the four women sitting on a bench together, and offered the flowers to each one of them. "Happy Mother's Day." Their attitude turned around in a blink of an eye when seeing just how kind he was. Although Mother's Day was not for another two weeks, they were touched that the boy was considerate. "Um… carnation…" His English was very limited. "Symbol Mama." Flustered that he could no longer explain what he meant with his limited vocabulary, he apologized with a bow before running off to go play.

They were easily won over by Mamoru, which allowed Takashi to be proud in a sense, but hoped to God that he would not start a Host Club when he started school. The adults watched as he climbed the steps and walked across the wobbly bridge as the girl was right behind him. He arrived at the slide, paused and looked to see the excited girl, and motioned her to go before him. With a quick kiss to his cheek, the girl jumped in the slide and went down with hearty laughs. All the mothers on the bench were amazed that Mamoru had manners as three of them looked to their sons to see them wrestling.

Finally given the chance, he went down the slide before heading for the stairs again.

This time, the boys came rushing up the stairs and knocked him off the bridge as they stormed by. It caused him to fall half a yard into the cold sand on his back. Takashi panicked immediately—he knew that Haruhi would kill him if he had any scrapes or bruises from the playground. All the mothers hurried over as well to apologize for their rude sons while the mother of the daughter was concerned if he was hurt. Mamoru stared at them curiously before sitting up and dusting himself off to try climbing the stairs again. They watched him cross the bridge and go down the slide after the boys took their turn. The mothers looked to Takashi as if to ask what his secret was on raising such a well-mannered child. As much as he wished he could take credit, he was just as taken aback as the women were…

Never had he seen a child be so brave or strong.

Everyone returned to their spots and watched the children play for a while. Not even five minutes later, Mamoru walked over to his uncle. "Taka-oji, can we go to store for Mama?" Takashi knelt down to him.  
"What kind of store do you want to go to?" Depending on the store, he would take him wherever.  
"Flower store." He pointed in a direction on the other side of the park. "Papa takes me after park time."  
Well, if his father took him there—he caught the sight of a bloody elbow. "You're hurt!" He surprised himself by yelling, but his little nephew's elbow was hurt and wounded. "Where—" he saw the fountain.

As if it was a huge emergency, he picked the boy up and took him to the fountain to wash off the blood and dirt while praying that Haruhi would not kill him for the incident. Tamaki accidentally knocked him over when Haruhi was pregnant with Hisako, and she almost strangled him to death for it. With the wound cleaned and dried, he tried to figure out what he could do to protect it from being infected. The boy pulled out a band aid and offered it to his frantic uncle. Once it was taken, Mamoru positioned his arm to make it easy for him to put it on the little cut that wanted to bleed again.

"It's time to go home." Takashi stated slightly firm in fear of Haruhi's rage.  
"Flower store." The boy pointed across the playground again. "Flower store Taka-oji."  
"We can go there next time—" Mamoru's lip started to quiver as a sign of soon tears. "Okay, let's go."  
"Kay. I wanna walk." He was set down and Takashi started to leave. "Taka-oji!" Takashi looked at him.  
"What?" This kid was going to be the death of him! The boy came over and reached for his hand.

"Fingers."

It dawned on him that Haruhi taught him 'fingers,' which meant to hold hands with the closest person as they walked in public or anywhere else where it was necessary. The boy could not reach too well, so he slightly slouched in order for him to reach—only to be hurried around the playground to go near the intersection where he stopped like a good boy, and reached for the button. Takashi slightly picked him up so he could hit the button, and they were soon allowed to cross. Right at the corner was the flower shop that Mamoru was anxious to go inside. As Takashi pushed the door open with one hand, Mamoru released his other hand to run toward the cash registered where he climbed a footstool, and quickly hit the bell with excitement to get a clerk to attend to him.

An elder man came out while wiping his hands on his dirty white apron. "Ah… Young Mamoru-sama, huh?" He spoke in Japanese, smiling at the boy. "I have a great selection for you, would you like to see?"  
"Yes please—oh," the boy motioned to the giant walking up from behind. "This is Taka-oji."  
The clerk bowed. "Pleasure to meet you." Takashi nodded in turn as he felt a little awkward.  
Mamoru carefully got down and was shown a group of flowers to pick from. "That one."

The adults looked at what he pointed at. Amongst the roses, the lilies, the orchids and more… Mamoru pointed at a very beautiful white chrysanthemum. Takashi did not understand anything right now, but watched as the old man carefully pulled out the specific chrysanthemum that the boy wanted, and handed it to him. With the elder knelt at his side, Mamoru wrapped his arms around the old clerk while thanking him for the flower—promising that he knew his mother would love it.

Well… so long as Mamoru was happy, Takashi began to pull his wallet out. "How much for the flower?"

"Nonsense, you put that thing back in your pocket." He stood up and patted Mamoru's head. "He comes in whenever he can and only asks for one flower to give to his mother, there's no harm from it. In fact, it's because of his mother that I'm even allowed to keep this flower shop running." He nodded with a cocky elder-like huff before getting an idea. "Oh, that's right." The clerk turned to Mamoru. "Mommy's having another baby again, huh?" Mamoru nodded once. "Should you give her two flowers instead?"

Takashi saw how Mamoru's steel gray blue hues lit up at the offer, which he began to contemplate.

"…Hisako just had a birthday. Can she get one instead? I'll pay for it." The clerk laughed and nodded, so the boy searched for a little until seeing a rose that has not yet bloomed. "I want this one." He carefully tugged it out, went to the counter, and pulled out a small handful of coins. "Is this enough to buy it?"

"Yep, sure is Little Man. It's yours!"

"Thank you." He took the two flowers and turned to his uncle. "I'm ready to go home."

* * *

"Mamoru-sama, Takashi-sama, thank heavens!" A servant hurried over, bowing in respect. "We were beginning to worry Sir!" Another servant was passing by. "You! Go find Haruhi-sama and tell her that—"

"There's no need," her voice was calm and caring. They all looked over at the family room as she appeared. "I told you that there was nothing to worry about." She came over and smiled at her son. "Did you have fun at the park this morning?" The boy nodded before holding up the white chrysanthemum.

"Happy Mother's Day."

"Thank you Ma-chan, it's very pretty." She picked him up and held him in her arms. "Who's the other one for? Is it for… Kiyo-san?" His head shook. "Is it for… a servant?" His head shook again. "For who?"  
"For Hisako, Mama. She a bud, when older, she can bloom and be pretty as Mama!" Mamoru looked around. "Can I give Hisako her flower Mama?" He showed it to her. "No pointy thingies on it, I swear."  
"You're too cute, of course you can give it to your sister." Haruhi set him down and was traded for chrysanthemum as he hurried into the family room to greet his sister. She turned to Takashi. "Morning."

"Morning." Curious as to what time it was, he looked at the old clock tower that that it was an hour past noon. No wonder why the servants were having a fit, they were gone for five hours. "Sorry, we're late."

"Don't worry about it, you're more reliable than Satoshi. I knew you wouldn't let anything happen to Mamoru." Her attention turned to the clueless servant that was barked at by the other butler. "Can you put this in a vase and take it up to my room please? Thank you." The man took the flower and left. She turned to Takashi again. "Mamoru loves to get me flowers from the store by the playground, and he always says 'Happy Mother's Day' when he gives me one. It's too cute, but I try to correct him. Each time I do, he tells me that every day is Mother's Day." She dismissed the other servant before going to the family room where Hisako marveled at the pretty rose, and even used sign language to show how happy she was while throwing fits of cute laughter. "Oh dear, she won't want to let go of it any time soon—"

"Haruhi." Takashi gulped nervously.

She turned to him curiously, wondering what was wrong. It had been some time since she had heard panic in his voice; the last time she heard this tone from him, he was holding Mamoru when he was two weeks old. With the kids together in the room, Haruhi took Takashi's hand and trailed him back to the foyer to hear what he had to say. Takashi watched the children playing—Mamoru did not seem the least bit fazed by the cut on his elbow or that he was knocked over and fell on his back.

His gaze lowered with concern. "Mamoru got hurt." Haruhi turned to look at the boy who shared his toys with his little sister. "Some boys pushed him off the bridge and he fell off. He has a cut on his left elbow." She returned her attention to him, watching him beat himself up about it. "I'm sorry, I won't—"

"He's a boy, Senpai." She interrupted with a smile. "More importantly, he's a Morinozuka." Hearing this, Takashi looked at her to see that she was not the least bit upset. "I'm very fortunate when it comes to Mamoru, even though he's Satoshi's son, he's very much like his Taka-oji and Aki-jii. Frankly, he takes after you despite the rare visits. Like you, it's hard for him to open up to others, but he makes an effort by showing how much he cares about others." The giant looked away, still feeling a bit guilty.

"If you were there, he wouldn't have been hurt."

"I seem to remember stories that your mother told me about you and Satoshi when you were little, getting into mischief and coming back worse for wear." Watching him blush made her smile even more. "It's not his first cut—and it definitely won't be the last. The most important thing to mean is the fact that you took care of the cut the moment you realized he had it." She paused. "You did, right?"

"Absolutely." The thought of not taking care of Mamoru's wound immediately… Haruhi would kill him.

"Good, then that's all that matters—" a large, growl emitted from the giant's belly. The kids looked over to see what the horrid noise was as well. Haruhi covered her mouth to prevent herself from laughing. "How about some lunch? You boys must be starving after all that play time. I'll fix you something to eat."

"You have chefs to cook—"  
Haruhi smiled. "What was that?"  
He looked away. "N-Nothing."

"Good, in that case, I'm make some natto." Mamoru perked at the mention of the fermented soybeans. "Another thing about him, Senpai." She smirked as she came over to pick up Hisako while Mamoru held her free hand. "He likes natto just as much as you—if not more. I can hardly get Satoshi to eat it even."

"…he's never been as fond of it."  
"Yes, well, if he doesn't eat it when it's made, he sleeps the foyer on the floor and has to change diapers for a month. Needless to say, he eats what is made for his meals." Her eyes rolled. "He's just like—"  
"Hikaru and Kaoru combined?"

"Exactly."

They walked into the dining room where she set Hisako in a baby seat with Mamoru pulling his own chair out beside her to climb up and sit next to her. Takashi was a bit lost as to where to sit; he was the head of the family, but this was not his residence—well, not the one he stayed in and received mail for. Haruhi told him to sit wherever he felt like, so he shifted a chair to the side, which a servant immediately removed for him, allowing the giant to sit on the other side of the kids in the middle. Her hand touched his shoulder without thought as she asked Mamoru to teach Takashi a little about sign language. The boy was excited to teach his uncle what he knew, and Takashi was grateful to learn what he knew, too.

Haruhi left them in order to go to the fridge for the stored fermented beans that she made two days ago, and began to heat them. A chef saw her and began to panic at the sight of her heating up the fermented beans and began other things. He quickly told her that he would heat the food and make them lunch as he gently shooed her out to protect her and the baby growing inside of her. With a quick huff, she kidnapped a banana along with a plate before leaving the kitchen to simmer down. It was obvious that the chefs, the servants, and everyone else, was only looking after her well-being.

When she walked into the dining room, the three looked at her curiously as she peeled the banana to break into four parts. She shared the snack with them while explaining that the chef caught her trying to cook. Mamoru giggled before thanking her for giving him a piece where as Hisako only mimicked his giggling as she snatched some of the food given to her to nibble on. As Takashi began to ask what really happened, Haruhi offered him the other piece of banana as she ate her share happily.

"No, thank you. You have it." He could wait a little longer. "You're eating for two now."  
"_Takashi_, I'm ten _weeks_ pregnant, not ten _months_. You're the one with a growling stomach."  
"I—" Thinking about it, he knew that it would be best not to test her, so he took it. "Thank you."  
"Was 'don't fight Haruhi' one of his rules?" His head nodded obediently, but he was still curious.

"This is my third time being pregnant, but everyone treats it like it's my first." A servant came over to collect the banana peel from her. "I know what I can and can't do, and I surely know my limitations."

Not one to tempt fate, he merely nodded to agree with her words rather than throw himself under a fire with no chance of survival. She smiled the moment she could see that he was not going to fight her in any manner. However, before Haruhi could poke any fun at him, the chefs brought out their meals—her meal was a little more healthier than everyone else's. The moment the chef was out of sight, Haruhi leaned over and stole a small bite of natto, making her daughter giggle at her mother being sneaky.

"Haruhi—"

"What," she interrupted her brother-in-law. "I'm eating for two, and the baby wants natto." For a brief moment, the giant opened his mouth to object, but sighed in defeat. "See, there's hope for you yet." That said… Haruhi snuck in one more small bite of natto from her daughter before eating her own meal that consisted of mostly fiber products. "Hey—want to sneak out and go to a Japanese restaurant in the city for dinner? It'll be my treat." Takashi scowled at her for playing dirty, which was no surprise really.

"The chefs cook to your dietary needs."  
"Are you calling me fat, _Takashi_?"  
"N-No… I… w-what I mean is…"

"If you don't want to go, then I'll take the kids and go without you. Just don't forget that I invited you to come alone." Haruhi watched his face fall at this. He would never win against her. "That's what I love about you, you're so easy to figure out. But really, one meal won't cause us any harm, I promise."

Only because she said 'love' did he give in.

"_One_ meal."  
She smirked. "Deal."  
"Dinner it is then."

"Good, it's a date."

Takashi was in for Hell watching over his brother's family.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Well, I did my best to attempt posting every few days, but it's not as easy as I thought it would be.

* * *

**Chapter 03**

**Second Chances**

**Now—**

It was surprisingly quiet for an estate with children. Not only that, but after three days of living under the same roof as Haruhi, Takashi's nerves began to settle down and count his blessing that he can spend time with her. During the annual reunions where the Morinozuka family would get together and enjoy each and everyone else's company, Satoshi would be glued to Haruhi at the hip—gloating about his prized wife that he would not trade for the world. It put himself, as the head of the family, under scrutiny for not having settled down with a woman. Easier said than done. Haruhi was—and still is, the only woman he could ever love, and he would have to wait for this life to end to be with her in the next.

A soft, caring hands rubbed his shoulders. "Are you okay?"

His attention went upward to see the worried woman that mentally tore him apart. For a moment, he thought he was in his office doing all sorts of paperwork with other business—especially the company tending to the potatoes that his farming branch were trying to save from the winter season back in Japan. The more he looked around, the more he realized that he was in Bali, in the family room of the villa that Satoshi and his family moved in to stay. He looked at the time to see that it was noon already; he sat down what seemed to be five minutes ago, turned out to be six hours of contemplating and brooding. It was not like him to daydream like this back at the main house… his guard was lowering.

"I asked a question." She grabbed his left ear's pressure point.

"Yes—I'm fine." The moment she let go, he rubbed his ear while still looking at her. "I was lost in thought, how we don't have the chance to spend time together anymore. We would spend every day together at high school when we were kids. Now… nothing." Her hands returned to his shoulders.

"You think too much," she began to massage his shoulders out of habit for the people in her life. "The most important thing is now the present. We have a little less than two weeks left to spend time with one another, and you want to spend the hours sulking about a past that cannot be changed? How rude."

"Sorry."

"You're here on vacation, right? So enjoy yourself while you can." Her arms slid forth to hug him around his shoulders from behind. "You're my brother now, I want to take care of you during your stay. But if you don't want to lighten up while you're here, then there's no point in me trying to convince you."

His right hand subconsciously placed itself on her arms while in thought. "A lot is on my mind."  
"Okay, well… sorry I bothered you then." Haruhi removed herself to leave. "I'm going to the shore."  
"Are you taking a servant with you?" She walked without word; an easy indicator that she would not.  
"Senpai, I have lived here for four years, I've walked on the beach alone while pregnant before, okay?"

"Takashi," he slid in a small correction before coming over to follow her up the stairs. "What about—"  
"The kids are down for their nap after their lunch. Kiyo-san is watching them. Everything's fine."  
"What about order in the estate while you're out wondering the beach for who knows how long?"  
"I told Takuya-kun, who is head usher here, that I am going to soak my feet on the beach for a bit."

"And during that time, someone can kidnap you and hold you for ransom."

This struck a nerve. "I'm not that helpless girl anymore—I _can_ take care of myself."  
"But you're pregnant." He reminded as they continued down the hall. "Stress is bad."  
"And you're doing a lovely job increasing that stress right now, _Tamaki-senpai_."

His body froze at the horrid comparison—to the point where he even faced a wall in despair.

Haruhi knew that she hit a sensitive spot for calling him Tamaki, but really… he was hovering over her almost in the same manner! She came to his side with hands behind her back, trying to be playful. "Onii-chama," his face lit up bright red. He was either angry at the cutesy name, or was too embarrassed by it. "If you don't want me to go alone, you _can_ come with me. It's our family beach after all. Whether you come or not, I'm going to the beach, and there's nothing you can do about it." He turned to face her, opening his mouth to speak, but she interrupted. "I dare you to try, because you'll regret it forever."

His mouth closed, then grumbled in defeat. "What do I wear?"

"Anything? Nothing? I don't care. I have no idea what wardrobe you brought with you." Her head tilted as she remembered something. "Although there's a nice pair of swimming trunks in the dresser for you… I believe it would be the middle section in the top row drawer? My memory is a little fuzzy, but whatever you want. I'm going to wear my two piece before the baby decides I can't wear it until it's born." With that, she left.

Takashi fell to the ground, bashing his head against the wall.

* * *

It was when she teased him like this, that he wondered if she knew of his crush on her…

Haruhi was wearing a beautiful, slightly dark red two-piece bikini, and an almost see-through white knee-high skirt that was tied on her left side. If it was not for the growing pooch that revealed itself when she turned sideways in his sight, he would probably get ahead of himself. In case he felt like swimming or show her that she picked the wrong man, he wore the swimming trunks she mentioned. Nothing was special about it: black trunks with two thin violet stripes down on the sides. She came over to the wet sand as the tides gently waved over her feet, causing her to slightly sink as the water drew back to the ocean.

It would have been most beautiful to see the sunset hitting her form.

A thought occurred to him, "Satoshi called me. Asking if you were doing fine."  
Her gaze turned to him. "I know, he called me this morning, whining about not waking up next to me."  
His face nearly grimaced at the thought of the two in bed together. "What about you?"  
"I couldn't sleep. Hisako was crying most of the night again because he's not here to sing to her."  
"Sing?" He knew for an absolute fact that his brother failed at singing anything.

"He's an idiot, I know. But he sings a lullaby to them every night, and they love it so much that they fuss if they don't hear it." She pulled her shoulder-length hair around her right ear to keep out of her face from the ocean breeze. "Takuya-kun has been having a rough time with some of the new servants that Satoshi hired, so I haven't bothered him about it so he can rest an extra two hours." She looked away.

"Can't you sing it to them?" Even though he knew she was terrible at singing.

"I try…" Her attention drew to him as he came directly beside her. "Mamoru falls asleep instantly, but it _always_ has to be a male voice for Hisako or else she'll never go to sleep and just fuss all night unless I breastfeed her and rock her for three hours straight." She cracked a smile. "She's just like her father."

His hand came up and scratched the side of his face with a finger when she mentioned breastfeeding.

"Really? You're going to be embarrassed over something that's completely natural? I'll have you know that you breastfed until you were almost two years old!" Haruhi loved to harass him now that she a family member. It was a privilege to see a side of him that no one else was able to see. However, he was so embarrassed that the tips of his ears were even read. "You're cute when your embarrassed, Takashi."

"You're harassing me too much."

"You should be honored." Haruhi slightly lifted her skirt to walk knee-high into the water.  
Oh, he felt honored alright, but he kept his mouth shut. "Honored from being harassed?"  
"Satoshi gets absolutely jealous when I play around with you, and rants about it all night long."  
He cracked a grin and accidentally puffed his chest out for winning one over his little brother.  
"Cocky, aren't you? I…" Haruhi stopped for a moment as her body became still suddenly.

Knowing her as a woman who always finished her sentences unless interrupted, he came over to be at her side as the water clashed slightly rough against their legs. Her gaze became unfocused. As she started to sway a bit, her hand came out to reach for something to hold on to, so he offered his hand. He waited for instructions—he could not simply pick her up as he used to… at least, not while she was pregnant. Her other hand came to her head, dropping the ends of her skirt to allow it to tread on the water surface. What was happening to her? His heart was in his throat from concern flooding through him as he jogged his mind through a mental tornado with all the possibilities hitting him.

"Are you okay?" He waited a solid minute for a reply, but she stood there, slightly wavering backward against his chest. Worried that she would fall forth, he started to place his hand on her hip until panicked about harming the unborn, so he placed his hand on her arm. "Haruhi, are you okay?"

"Yeah… sorry, I suddenly got dizzy." It took a moment for her to get her bearings straight, and faced him.

Seeing her look up at his face, smiling, was the biggest relief he could ever receive just then. It was his turn wanting to faint—she almost scared him to death! As Haruhi started to walk around the water a bit more, he gently pulled her back to continue looking at him. The current was getting slightly stronger, it was the only warm day they had since the month of December began, and it was time to go back inside. He had to think about it carefully; Haruhi was pregnant, slightly moody, and had a bit of a temper now…

Takashi took in a deep breath to toughen up against her fury, he was not going to lose to her with the chance of her health—and baby, in jeopardy. "Haruhi," he would not lose to her! "We should go back."

"…yeah, you're probably right."  
Just like that? Really? "I am?"

"I've never been dizzy this early before, so it would best if I take a bath and get something to eat before I have the doctor at the villa check up on me." Haruhi saw the baffled look on his face; too amazed that she would agree so easily. "Senpai, I might be a bit of a daredevil, but I won't risk my baby's life."

She could have fooled him. Wait, "you have a doctor at the villa?"

"Well… Satoshi hired her this morning for me, so she arrived around noon and nagged at me for not keeping up with appointments." Haruhi looked away a bit sorely. "So I wanted to get out and enjoy life a little before I had to hear more of her nagging. It helps when she's completely terrified of you though."

"You used me."

"What are you talking about? I offered you the opportunity to spend time with me, and you graciously accepted. You could have denied it and risked the one in a million chance that I would be kidnapped on the family beach." He scowled at her for playing dirty. "What? I did absolutely nothing wrong—"

As she lost her balance from the tides and received another dizzy-spell, Takashi pulled her into a hug. It was enough for her as the currents were getting stronger with each wave. He looked left and right for a servant, but it was just the two of them on the beach alone. As much as he loved the idea, it was not the time or place for it. Takashi slowly picked her up in his arms, and walked out of the water to the villa a few hundred yards away. Even though she said bath and food first, he objected when he entered the estate. Servants saw Haruhi in his arms and started to panic in horror at the thought that she was hurt or there was something wrong with the fetus.

"Stop," she spoke softly, and all servants froze in place. One fell over when he balanced on one leg. "The baby and I are fine." Her gaze went to her hero, "can you put me down?" Watching him scowl at her made her smile at his rebellious attitude, but turned to the servants. "Can someone fetch the clothes on my bed to change in? Otherwise, tell the chefs to start cooking dinner, and have Kiyo-san wake the children up from their nap." They stared at her, waiting for more instructions. "Carry on." They all fled.

Takashi was amused be this. "They really care for you." He headed for the first aid room.

"They're paid to care about me because I'm Satoshi's wife." They reached the room where the female doctor glared at her for having to be carried in. "…except her, she's a little scary." She looked up at the giant with an almost abused expression. "Will you stay so she doesn't hurt me? I won't harass you."

As much as he wanted to decline, he promised to take care of her. "Fine."

The doctor sighed at the inconvenience, but had no choice but to accept it. "Put her on the bed and tell me what happened." Her back turned to place her gloves on and prepared her necessary equipment.  
"We were on the beach and she was dizzy, twice." He announced as he carefully set her down as told.  
"Have you been taking all your pills, Haruhi-sama?" She prepped the ultrasound machine beside her.  
"Yes, I have. This is the first time I've ever been dizzy in the first trimester before. In fact—I've been gaining weight a little more than I have with Mamoru and Hisako." Haruhi cringed at the cold gel.

"I wish you would have let me checked you the moment I arrived." As the woman turned her head to grab the transducer probe, Haruhi stuck her tongue out at her. When the woman turned around again, Haruhi looked as innocent as ever. "Let's start with whether the baby is okay, shall we?" She placed the probe over Haruhi's small pooch to smear the gel around before turning on the display unit. "Oh my—"

"Oh my God." Haruhi stared at the screen in what seemed to be horror.  
"What?" Takashi looked at the screen but did not understand. "What's wrong?"  
"I believe this makes Morinozuka history?" The doctor smiled. "Congratulations."  
"Oh God… this is not funny, I'm going to castrate him when he gets home, I promise."  
"What? What's happening with the baby?" He looked at the women. "What's wrong?"

His sister-in-law's eyes rolled and looked at him."Will you relax Senpai? Nothing's wrong, I'm having triplets."

"It's Takashi—" he reminded in a slightly panicked tone until it clicked. "Triplets?"  
"Yes, triplets, you know, Hitachiin _twins_? Now there's such thing as Morinozuka _triplets_."  
Triplets… tri… three. "You have three babies inside of you? How is that even possible?"  
"Would you like a graphic visual of me and your brother having sex, or can you just be happy?"

The mental image burned in his mind; the horror of the two of them going at it for hours scarred him in a blink of an eye. Fortunately, he looked as composed as ever on the outside—minus the heated blush on his face that he could not hide. Both women giggled at him as he tried his best to stay strong, but the doctor turned away to take some pictures while seeing while checking things out a little more. From the looks of the ultra sounds, it seemed that Haruhi was going to have identical triplets, making her sigh.

After a few more pictures, the doctor looked to Haruhi, "you know what to do, right?"  
"Gain approximately twenty-five kilograms?" Her head leaned back against the pillow.  
"Well… there is that." She smiled. "You have to take it a lot easier on yourself now."  
"You can't be serious. I have school and I just pushed through a branch in Italy. I—"  
"—will be on strict bed rest." Her tone was firm. "No more downstairs for you."

"I have to tend to the kids, I can't lie in bed all day, I'll go insane—nh!"  
"Haruhi!" Takashi looked her over as he saw her in pain, then looked at the doctor.  
"That would be your triplets telling you to take it easy unless you want to risk miscarriage."  
Haruhi calmed herself down to subdue the sharp pain, and eventually spoke. "I have things to do."

"If I understand correctly, your last pregnancy was very stressful on your body. If you don't take extra precaution this time, you may lose one of more fetuses before you hit your second trimester." That said, the doctor lightened up. "You have a nanny caring for the children, you have Takashi-sama here to do business for you—business you probably should not even be doing no less, and you're schooling is online. Explain to your professors that you're doctor is demanding strict bed rest until delivery. Being a part of a rich family, they have little to no choice other than listen to us or else face a wrath like no other."

Haruhi had no choice either, except to give in. She did so with ease. "If we're done here?"

The doctor wanted to do more tests, but nodded acceptingly. A servant knocked and Takashi opened it to see a maid with her clothes. He gave Haruhi her clothes and quickly turned around the moment she undid her bikini top. Minutes later, she was dressed, and stood up on her feet—only to nearly collapse. Takashi sensed the danger and turned to catch her by her shoulders; scared to touch her anywhere else.

This slightly irked the woman, but she knew it was best to work with her patient rather than bark."You most likely have low blood pressure. I'll check it in a moment, but for now… go upstairs and rest."

Haruhi nodded and looked to Takashi. "Sorry to trouble you, but, can you escort me to my room?"  
"Ah." He stepped aside to offer his arm for her to hold, and she took it gratefully. "Can you manage?"  
"We'll see how it goes. I don't like being doted on by others." That said, they left the room quietly.  
The silence lasted a few minutes until they arrived at the stairs. "…would you like me to carry you?"

Fire grew in her eyes. She wanted to walk up the stairs, and she took a step forth… only to retreat. "Yes." He carefully carried her in his arms up the stairs. "I honestly don't mean to trouble you Senpai, I—"

"Ta-ka-shi." He corrected her for the umpteenth time as he watched his step. "Don't worry about it."  
"Why is that? Because worrying about troubling you would cause me too much stress to handle?"  
Once they made it up the stairs, he looked at her. "Because you're family, and families stick together."  
"That's such a cliché line… even for you." Haruhi looked down the hallways. "Let me walk now… please."

He set her on her feet carefully, but refused to let her go completely.

With his hand on the small of her back, he walked her to her room without trouble… or, at least until she stood at the doorway of nursery where the children were fussing over being woken up too soon from their nap. Mamoru saw his mother at the corner of his eye and sensed how she was troubled, so he came over to ask in sign language why she was unhappy. She replied in the same silent manner that she was tired and needed to rest. It did not seem like he enjoyed the thought of his mother resting during the day; it was unnatural. The moment his attention turned to Takashi, he looked back to his mother to ask if his uncle would be watching over her while she rested.

Haruhi softly laughed at the suggestion, "no sweetie, Taka-oji has other things he has to take care of."  
"What did he say?" The giant questioned. He really needed to learn Japanese Sign Language, yesterday!  
"Oh, um…" she smiled apologetically. "He asked if you were going to watch over me while I took a nap."

In truth, he wanted to watch over her, but did not know how. Takashi knelt down to Mamoru, "would you like me to watch over Mama while she rests?" The boy gave one large head bob to indicate his answer. "What if Mama gets mad at me for being in her room that she shares with Papa though?"

"Then Mama gets a timeout for being bad." Haruhi's lips curled inward as she covered her mouth with a hand to resist laughing at his cuteness. As soon as the toddler looked up at her, she regained her composure as he used sign language to attempt asking her to let Uncle Taka to watch her. "Please?"

"Okay, okay, Taka-oji can work on his laptop to coordinate business at my desk in my room, brat."

Mamoru stuck his tongue out at her.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** It irritates me to no end... time flies too fast! I'm trying to get a job and it's a pain in the butt!

* * *

**Chapter 04**

**Second Chances**

**Now—**

"Yes, I love you too, bye." Haruhi ended the two-hour phone call with her busy husband before chucking the phone at the doorway. The giant walked in at that moment, catching the phone as it headed for his face. "If he calls again to talk to the womb again, I'm flying to Spain to kill him myself, enough said."

"He's in Germany," he corrected quietly.  
It took her a moment to think. "Then who's in Italy?"  
"That would be the expansion for the dojo branch, remember?"  
"Ugh… I'm so scattered now that I can't even do schooling for nine months."  
"Or at least until the babies are born." She glared at him icily at the comment. "Sorry."

"Can't I have just a little bit of otoro? Please?"  
Takashi shook his head at this. "The chef and doctor said you can't."  
"But I'm really craving it, especially after talking to Satoshi three times this morning."  
"He's just excited that you're having multiples." He came over and set the phone on the nightstand.  
"But the idiot is heading home today, isn't he? Shouldn't he be doing something else more useful?"  
"If you were my wife, you would be hearing my voice more often, just not on a phone."  
She smirked. "That's a little flirtatious—did you find a girlfriend yet?"  
"…we're getting off the topic, Haruhi."

For the last ten days, Haruhi had only been in three rooms: her bedroom, her bathroom, and the nursery—when no one was looking. Takashi would catch her trying to sneak downstairs, and it was a real tossup on how to handle her. Leave it to Haruhi who was craving for seafood, the one thing that the chef and doctor were completely banning her from and replacing the poor choice with taiyaki. It would satisfy her most of the time, but there were other times where she was ready to devour someone for not giving her what she wanted. A servant stopped by to ask if she would like something to eat, Haruhi asked for sushi and he declined… the lamp on the nightstand next to the bed almost broke his skull.

Takashi was a little nervous to approach her king-sized bed with the tray of taiyaki. Although she had yet to bark and snap at him, he was waiting for that very occasion every minute of the day. One moment she was sweet—mainly when the kids were present in her room, other times she was the devil incarnate that would send you to the depths of Hell with a single glare. Her attitude around Takashi, and _only_ around Takashi, was more aloof and lightly playful when she felt up to the task. Either it was because he was family, or because they had known each other for a decade and he can get away with things.

"Anyway… Satoshi should be home sometime tomorrow evening because he has to make a stop in Egypt for something rather. He won't even tell me." Haruhi sat up slowly, rubbing her head exhaustedly from all the boredom of being limited to a few rooms. "Then in two weeks, I'll call our parents about the pregnancy." Takashi sat at her side against the bed to offer an ice-cold glass of water. "Thanks."

"Why not tell them sooner? No one would scold you for your pregnancy."

"No, it's nothing like that—I know how everyone would be excited. It's quite common for women to wait upon telling everyone the news when they enter their second trimester." She took a small sip before giving the glass back for him to set aside on the nightstand on a coaster. "Many women worry that they'll disappoint friends and family if they tell them… then suddenly have a miscarriage soon after."

"Miscarriage?"  
"To lose the fetus—or fetuses…"  
"No, I know. But you wouldn't disappoint them."

"Like Sensei said before, I had a scary complication when I was in labor with Hisako. She almost died before she could even be born. I was terrified about everything at that moment, and the fear in Satoshi's eyes did not help any." Feeling that she was about to cry, she brought a hand up to cover her eyes so he would not see the tears fall. "My body is smaller than the average Japanese woman, I know that. Which is why I'm scared for the fetuses. I honestly don't know if I can carry them all for toward a safe delivery."

"Would you consider…?"

Hearing him trail off, she turned to look at him. Her eyes were reddening. "What?" He looked away guiltily. "Oh, no… I couldn't." She wiped her eyes with the back of her right hand. "I know how you family feels about abortions. Honestly, I don't think I could go along with that choice, either." Haruhi sighed and covered her face again to fight back the tears. "I'm just scared that something will happen. I'll be damned if I miscarry—I would rather give my life just so they can—"

He leaned forth and embraced her to keep her from saying scary things. Even though the bed belonged to his brother and wife, said wife was starting to have a meltdown. Haruhi clung to him tightly as she could no longer hold back her tears from the emotions and fear flooding in her. It was a heart wrenching to hear her crying, but he let her continue as long as she wanted until she found herself asleep through the exhaustion. Lucky for them that the children were downstairs with Kiyo-san having a snack. Takashi slowly laid her down and tucked her in so she could sleep after relieving her troubles on him.

The cell phone on the nightstand started to ring, and he quickly answered it. Although it was Haruhi's phone, it was his brother calling. "Satoshi—" Haruhi almost stirred at his voice, so he got up to leave the room to speak. "She's asleep right now, shouldn't you be on the jet coming home?"

A woman was sobbing and crying on the phone, speaking in Germany. He did not know that language too well, and hearing a car speeding off in the background did not help. While going down the stairs in search for Takuya—who knew German fluently, he tried other languages in hopes that she knew one of them. All he could understand was "Haruhi" every time she mentioned it. Catching the butler giving others orders for the preparation for Satoshi's return, he hurried over to him before he could leave.

"Takuya, talk to this woman."

Although confused by the demand, he took the phone and greeted the woman. She was as hysterical as before as she practically screamed in his ear about what happened and why she possessed Satoshi's phone. Takuya did not have to say one word to ask her any questions in turn as sirens came into the background, getting louder and louder. Takashi hoped for a quick translation because the woman had been so frantic with him when he first answered. Her screaming could be heard from a two-meter radius in the foyer until the phone went dead. The shock on the servant's face did not bode well for anyone.

"What happened."

"…Satoshi-sama was shot by a thug trying to rape the woman on the phone… he's dead…"

Nearby servants halted dead in their tracks, some even gasped. "What do you mean?" It was not that he was unintelligent; he just could not grasp the possible concept that Haruhi just talk to him almost an hour ago. "Satoshi isn't dead, he—" the phone began to ring again. He answered it quickly. "Satoshi?"

"Is this Morinozuka Haruhi?" It was a man, and luckily knew Japanese.  
"No… but this is her phone, I'm her brother-in-law. May I speak with my brother?"  
"Is your brother the owner of this cellular device that I am speaking to you with?"  
"Yes, may I speak with him?" There was a long pause on the line. "Is he okay or not?"  
"I am terribly sorry, but no, paramedics got here when I did, there's no heartbeat."

He swallowed hard and quickly looked up the stairs to make sure Haruhi was not there staring at him despite that she was in her room sleeping. His hand coursed through his hair before pulling at it as he tried to let the information sink in. It was hard for him not to break the phone in his hand as if it were a stress ball. The man explained that he was an officer of the law, and the woman that was on the scene explained that a man was about to rape her, but Satoshi jumped out of the taxi he was using in order to save her. What he said killed Takashi the moment; Satoshi passed a message to that woman for Haruhi:

I love you.

Takashi snapped and threw the phone across the foyer, which a servant barely caught in time. However, none of the picture frames and vases beside him on an antique end table were safe from his rage as he rashly flipped it over to blow some steam. Everyone backed away in fear of getting hurt, but they were also terrified that he might hurt himself in the process of his venting. He kicked the table out of his way and violently punched a hole through the wall that separated the foyer from the dining room.

"Mori-senpai?" Her voice pierced through his ears. "What's wrong—what happened?" How the Hell could he tell her this news? He pulled his fist out of the wall while trying to calm down. "Everyone, please go back to your duties." All bowed in respect and obeyed as she carefully walked down the stairs to come to his side to check on him. "Senpai, what's wrong?" He could not face her like this. "Takashi?"

He could not lie and say it was nothing. "You shouldn't be downstairs."

"I was resting until I heard the commotion." The moment he attempted to leave, she grabbed his hand. "Please don't run from me, I want to help you." His hand tightened around hers as if it would relieve him of the pain that he was enduring—a pain that she would have to endure, too. "If you won't lean on me, why should I lean on you?" This earned her the attention he refused to give. "Tell me what's wrong."

"…Satoshi…" How could he tell her something that he could not stomach? If he told her, there was a big chance that she could miscarry from the trauma. "…he…" He could not keep her from the truth either.  
"What did that dummy do to upset you?" His eyes shut tightly with his head turning away sharply. "Did something come up?" He nodded weakly. "Figures, it's just like him to get distracted by other things."  
Takashi wanted to tell her everything, but he was terrified at what the aftermath could result in. "Are you okay going upstairs by yourself? I need to make a call to extend my stay to watch you and the kids."

Although she could see in his eyes that there was something he was not telling her, her head nodded softly before releasing him to go upstairs. She did not get far due to stopping the moment she turned. Takashi looked over his shoulder to see why she stopped, and he saw the disaster he created. Using the wall, Haruhi knelt down to pick up the picture frames—one in particular. Her hand flipped the frame over to reveal a picture of Satoshi and herself on their wedding day with large, idiotic grins on their faces. It was an ending point for Takashi as he watched tears from her face and onto the broken glass.

"Sorry—I'll replace it immediately. I—"

"You've done enough, thank you." She picked up the other picture frames to see that the glass protecting the photographs were shattered. One by one, she gathered them and placed them against her chest near her heart before using the wall to help her back on her feet. "Sorry, we must be more trouble than I thought. For you to throw a tantrum over your brother's tardiness. Please excuse me."

More than anything in the world, he wanted to tell her the truth. If it was possible, he wanted to wait a little bit in order to lessen the risks of miscarriage—not to mention that he needed to find a way to explain things to her without losing control of his emotions again. He could imagine the brokenhearted expression on her face when she picked up the pictures, he damaged precious memories of their family. Although there was bound to be duplicates and a memory chip with pictures to replace them, it was not the point. Takashi wanted to take her hand and walk her up the stairs, but he was too afraid to do so.

After she went upstairs, Takashi searched for Takuya. "Takuya." His voice was dead serious.  
It worried the head usher, "y-yes… T-Takashi-s-sama?" He wanted to run away immediately.  
"No one is to tell Haruhi about Satoshi, is that understood? I'll tell her when she's safe from risk."  
"Risk? The pregnancy?" Takuya blinked, Takashi nodded. "Sir, there will always be a risk for her."  
"What did you say?" He grabbed him angrily as he assumed that it was a threat on the unborn children.

"Haruhi-sama is having triplets, while it's true that chances of miscarriage will be less of a problem for her in a few weeks, miscarriage would be result from other factors than abnormalities." Haruhi's doctor called out, happening to pass by while already knowing what happened to Satoshi. "There will always be risks until they are out of the womb. If she trips, they can die. If there is an infection, they can die." She looked at him firmly as he released the servant. "If she gets overly traumatized by her husband accident, not only is there a chance that the fetuses can result in the same way, and quite possibly… throw her over the edge herself to the point of no return."

"Are you telling me I have to wait nine months to tell her!"

"It's a suggestion, of course, but I can't tell you what to do." The woman blinked. "I also doubt you can withhold that kind of information from her for long." She bowed and left. "There's no easy way for it."

Takashi immediately hated the woman for being inconsiderate, but there was no time to deal with her. His head shook angrily to get her out of his mind in order to focus on what was important. He needed to get his brother—he needed to tell their parents without alerting Haruhi that there was something wrong! With his mind going crazy, he had to think of something fast or else there would be no telling what would happen to his brother's body. There was no way he could leave Haruhi alone at the villa while she was pregnant, but there was no way he could let his parents suffer the problem, too. It would take his parents almost eight hours to arrive to Bali, Indonesia from home, and it would take more than that to get to Nuremberg, Germany. His head hurt—his heart ached, he did not know what to do now.

If it was killing him to lose his brother, how could Haruhi stand to lose a lover?

Upstairs against the wall with a hand holding the picture frames, she processed everything that they were talking about. Something had obviously happened to her husband. She looked down at the broken picture frame of her wedding day with Satoshi; the glass cracked through his face, it was a clear sign to her that whatever the accident was, was bad enough to throw Takashi into a rare rage. In her mind, she calculated the steps that her brother-in-law would be making if it were an emergency. It would not be long before he contacted his parents to come to Bali to watch over her… as if she would allow it. However, instead of letting her worries get the best of her, she walked to her room and called her idiotic husband with the phone line in hopes that he would answer her call, but it went straight to voice mail. The indication was a clear sign that Satoshi's cell phone was turned off. It was _never_ off.

"Haruhi?"

She looked at the doorway to see the gentle giant, "oh, Senpai. I just tried calling Satoshi, but he won't answer." As she put the phone on the receiver, she added. "I've never heard his voicemail before, it's actually quite cute." Wanting to try again, she looked around for her cell phone. "I thought you put it—"

"Sorry, I took it…" Having to find the right servant to take the phone from, almost became impossible.  
After motioning him inside, Haruhi took the phone and checked the call log. "He called twice?"  
His gaze stared at the floor, guilty. "I'm going to fly into Germany to help with what I can."  
"…I see. Akira-san and Masayo-san must be coming to watch over me then, huh?"

"It shouldn't take more than five days."

Haruhi looked at him for a moment; it was obvious that he was going to try to make things right, but it worried her that he would not even look her in the eye. To change this, she came over to stand in front of him to see what his reaction would be. He still did his best to avoid her gaze. It made it even more obvious that there was something wrong… something that he was going to fix. Still, all she wanted was for him to look her in the eyes. She raised her hand to his face and turned his head in her direction.

Although she was gentle, he was terrified.

Haruhi read him better than anyone—

"I understand, Senpai." Steel gray blue hues turned to her immediately when hearing this. "While I do apologize for overhearing the conversation after making my way up the stairs, obviously, Satoshi has done something." Haruhi watched as his eyes shut tightly, and it made her suspicions clear. "I have one request, and I won't forgive you if you refuse or can't accomplish the task." She removed her hand and walked over to the window to stare at the vast body of water as she wished she did not have to say it.

"What is it?" Takashi had a bad feeling that she knew. "I'll do my best."

"Bring my husband home." Her eyes closed to keep herself strong. "…dead or alive."  
His hands clenched into fists. "Haruhi… there's something I have to tell you."  
"…there's no need." She turned around and looked at him. "Promise me, Senpai."  
If he told her, it would risk her pregnancy. "I promise I will bring him home."

"One more thing…" As she walked over to him, he became nervous. Her arms opened out and wrapped around his body with her face burying itself into his chest. "Promise me that you will come back as well." His eyes widened in surprise at this; he did not know whether to flee or embrace her. "If you both don't return, I'll go to Germany and kill you myself." Haruhi wanted to smirk when she felt his body tense, but she was dead serious about it, too. "And if I can't find you, then your fate will be worse than death."

For a split moment, he thought she felt something for him. "A-Ah…" he swallowed. "Understood…"

"Thank you," with that, she walked away to sit on her bed—temporarily cringing and put a hand to her stomach as a clear sign of brief pain. "…zero tolerance for stress, huh?" Her attention turned to her cell phone. "…did your parents already leave for their trip here?" She looked at him to see that he nodded quietly. "I see… well then, I wonder if I should make a call of my own." His interest was perked as she began to dial a number and put the phone to her ear. "Hi Senpai, it's good to hear your voice. How are you doing?" The moment she removed the phone from her ear, Takashi could hear someone cheering happily, and there were only a few idiots that she called 'senpai' that would have that reaction. "Can you cancel all your meetings for a week to come be with me? Taka-nii is leaving and having me stay behind." Takashi tried to hear the conversation, but it was hard to hear the other end. "If you promise to come to Bali, I'll tell you a secret. Well—you have to bring the idiots with you, of course." All he heard was a 'I promise' in a cutesy voice. It was definitely Mitsukuni. "Great. I'll see you guys within a day then?"

It was agreed, and the call ended.

He could not believe that she just called Mitsukuni and invited three idiots and an asshole. Even though Kyouya was a good friend, he never particularly liked get-togethers or reunions when it came to the old gang. They were not kids anymore. If she wanted someone to keep her company, calling Mei would have done fine job! What happened if the twins brought their little sister who was Mamoru's age?!What if they played with each other and somehow fell in love?! Then they would marry in fifteen years and the Hitachiin brothers would be family! Takashi, mentally exhausted at the horror of the thought of everyone coming to Bali for a week—the chaos would surely put the triplets in danger!

His body fell to his hands and knees in defeat… too much was on his plate.

Haruhi stared at him, slighting annoyed that he was practically dying on her floor. "If you're going to sulk that I keep in touch with Hani-senpai more than you do, don't." She set the phone aside to explain her reasons for making the call. "I'm terrified as to what happened with my husband. The distraction that they provide will help me ignore said fear." Takashi looked up at her, amazed that she was strong enough to admit her fears, which was reality in this case. "Go ahead and get ready for Germany."

There was never a moment she did not surprise him, never.

* * *

**A/N:** So, in a sense... Haruhi knows that something has happened to Satoshi. By saying "dead or alive," she's trying to comfort Takashi if it so happens that her husband cannot return to her breathing. At the same time, she does not want to lose Takashi too. It might seem that she believes it is gang related or worse, who knows! With Takashi going to Germany, we need to liven the villa, and what better way to bring in the retired Host Club?

Seriously... if you have an ideas or suggestion to keep the story running, don't hesitate to review... it helps more than you know~


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Sorry about the wait... my motherboard crashed, so I had to get a new one and then get (almost force) Geek Squad to fix it.

* * *

**Chapter 05**

**Second Chances**

**Now—**

He stood tall with his arms behind him as if he was from the military as he waited beside the pregnant woman while his parents walked through the foyer. It was not that he was trying to act manly in front of his father, it was just that… Haruhi was glaring daggers at him ever since he told her that his father would be coming with him to Germany. In a way, she got along fine with Akira because he was laid back and disciplined whereas Masayo could be a little too cheerful. There was no bad blood between them or anything, but it seemed that only Akira could prevent her from going on an enthusiastic thrill ride.

"Haruhi my dear, it's good to see you—you're pregnant!" Not even through the casual greetings and Haruhi's belly was being inspected. "Oh my, you must be at five—six months? Why didn't you tell me!"  
To save Haruhi from the headache, and to crawl out of his self-buried grave, Takashi explained. "Haruhi is almost three months pregnant, Mother." Both of his parents looked at him as if he was ridiculous.  
"Takashi, even you were not that big in your mother's womb at three months." Akira stated firmly as if it were only yesterday that he was born. "In fact, the only way she could be three months is if she was—"  
"I _am_ carrying multiples." Haruhi bowed her head to Akira in respect; mainly because he was not so touchy about her belly. He had his moments, though. "I currently pregnant with three identical triplets."

"Congratulations, I'm sure S—" Masayo elbowed him in the ribs before he could say Satoshi's name.

The woman hugged the pregnant woman. "You _must_ let me see my grandchildren immediately Haruhi!"  
"A-Ah…" She looked to Takashi for help, but he refused to look at her. "I'll deal with you when you—"  
"Come dear! Are they upstairs? Downstairs?" With a quick thought, she gasped. "Is it lunchtime even?!"  
Haruhi sighed heavily with a hand on her stomach. "They should be in the family room, follow me."

With the two women out of the room, it was quiet. It was not that Takashi's mother was hyperactive or a little crazy or anything… she was trying to put on a brave face after hearing the news about her youngest son's death. He watched as Haruhi carefully sat down on the couch near the children playing while his mother was spinning Hisako in the air. The look on Haruhi's face was painful to watch now.

"…do you think you can stay behind with her?" Takashi suggested quietly. "Mother and I can go to Germany to take care of this." Feeling wiser eyes on him, he explained himself. "Haruhi can relax more with you around whereas Mother can be a tad… eccentric, to say in the least." As he said this, Masayo blew raspberries on the little girl's face. "Any longer, and it will be easy for Haruhi to know that something is definitely wrong—she's already suspicious as is." Without hearing an answer for a solid minute, he looked to his father. "Furthermore, I would feel more comfortable if you stayed at her side."

"Guilt with do nothing but feed negativity." Akira finally replied.  
"I promised Satoshi that I would take care of her and the kids."  
Then perhaps your mother and I should be the ones going, hm?"  
"But—" his father was right, but… still. "I want to do this for her."  
"Do what? Retrieve her husband's dead body?" Takashi flinched.  
He tried to be strong, though. "I said I would bring him back."

"Are you leaving because you truly want to take care of all the legal formalities to return your brother home, or is it that you cannot face her without telling her what happened to him?" Akira was not trying to be mean to him. He just wanted his son to acknowledge what his fears could be. "I wondered why you wouldn't tell Haruhi about what happened, but I understand now. Pregnancy with triplets is risky."

"Which is why I want you to stay behind with her."  
"Satoshi is your brother, but he is my son. I can—"  
"No father should ever bury his son, I know that."

"Really?" He slightly mused despite the dark hour. "Where did you learn that?"

Takashi looked away in defeat."…from Haruhi."  
"She is a very smart woman… smart mother, too."  
"I think she knows what happened, subconsciously."

"Which is why I can't accept your request upon staying here. There is more than one reason why I am going to Germany with you." Akira turned to walk in the direction of the dojo down the hall for a more private conversation. "Like you, if she were to ask questions about Satoshi, I would not be able to hide it from her. Haruhi is family—more Morinozuka than your mother, and far more Morinozuka than my very own mother." He turned to look at his son who was centimeters taller than him. "The reason why I had suggested that you stay behind to care for Haruhi, is because I know how you still feel about her."

"Father… please, she just became a widow and doesn't even know it." He could not even think about looking her in the eyes, let alone making a pass on her. "What are the other reasons you won't stay?"

"You think I want to be here when she's pregnant?"

"…ah." Now it made sense to him.

Although her rages had been mild the past week, he recalled Satoshi's information about Haruhi when she was pregnant with Mamoru: he would rather suffer the wrath of Mitsukuni with no sweets for a month rather than face Haruhi's mood swings for a day. If he remembered correctly, there was time a when Haruhi almost miscarried because she was furious about something, but no one ever mentioned the reason it happened. That aside, perhaps it was best that he did not sacrifice his father to such horrors; he already had to deal with it twice with his own wife and kids! Still… Haruhi needed some sort of stability while they were gone, and the last thing Haruhi needed was the Hitachiin twins poking and prodding her, Tamaki sobbing tears of joys, and Mitsukuni pretending to be her son by clinging to her everywhere she went. Not to mention Masayo who was overly excited about her grandchildren and the three that Haruhi was pregnant with… would Haruhi really be able to handle it all at once?

"Haaaaruuuu-chaaaan!"

Takashi turned to look down the hall when hearing Mitsukuni's voice. What if that fool hugged her and hurt the triplets?! He stormed down the halls, through the foyer, and into the room to see Mitsukuni snuggling against Haruhi on the couch, Tamaki foaming at the mouth while unconscious, the twins playing with her hair, and Kyouya watching the mess. Ageha, Hikaru and Kaoru's little sister, was already playing with Mamoru and Hisako on the floor with Masaya commented about how cute they all were. As everyone was nice and cozy with each other, he looked over at Haruhi to see that she was smiling. One minute was a lot different than one week, though… could she really deal with them for that duration?

"…Haruhi," everyone looked at the giant curiously. "…will you be okay then?"

She smiled warmly. "Of course I'll be okay. Mitsukuni will protect us, Kyouya will make sure business is taken care of, Tamaki will tend to our every need, and Hikaru and Kaoru will spoil us rotten as always."  
Hearing her call everyone by name caused him to flinch, but could not make a scene about it. "…ah."  
"Don't worry so much Mori-senpai, with Haruhi pregnant, we'll take _super_ good care of her." The twins purred as they nuzzled their faces against her hair. "We'll make cute clothes for her while you're gone!"  
"Me too, me too!" Mitsukuni raised his hand excitedly. "I have an army outside to make sure that no one gets near Haru-chan or Ma-chan or Hisa-chan!" He flashed a toothy grin. "I'll protect them all!"  
"A-Ah…" to summon an army was completely overboard—and very suspicious to say in the least!  
"I will be Haruhi's loyal servant! Anything she asks for, I will obey!" Tamaki swooped to her side, kneeling in front of her as if he was a teenager ago. "Haruhi-hime, please give me any order you wish fulfilled!"  
Hearing this, Haruhi smiled as an idea hit her. She would definitely take advantage of the situation. "Well, if you insist… I wouldn't mind having some otoro… I've been craving if for two weeks now."

"Yes ma'am!" Tamaki got up to run toward the kitchen, only to be grabbed by his shirt.

Takashi glared at him dangerously. "Haruhi isn't allowed to have seafood during her pregnancy." What was worse was the fact that Haruhi knew this! Was it really going to be okay to leave her with them?! He set Tamaki down and pointed at Haruhi accusingly. "You know that your doctor prohibits seafood."

"Why are you still here?"

Things turned dead silent, even for the kids. The hostility from the pregnant was read loud and clear by all, and everyone was glad that her focus was on Takashi and not them! Haruhi shifted away from Mitsukuni's grasp to stand up. Takashi immediately understood that he was in trouble, but he could not argue with her… not when she was pregnant… not ever. With the atmosphere dark and dangerous, Masayo took the kids to the kitchen for a snack. It was a stand down; pregnant woman with raging mood swings versus a stubborn man that promised to take care of said woman and her children.

"…I was just leaving." Not willing to confront her, he turned away, grabbed his bag, and left.  
Akira shook his head at the situation, but looked to Haruhi. "We'll be back as soon as possible."

The two were out of the villa, and everyone looked at Haruhi worriedly. "Haru-chan… are you mad at Takashi?" It was the one question on everyone's mind. "Did he do something inappropriate to you?"  
"I'm upset because he thinks I'm not strong enough to know what's happening in Germany." Her hand came up and rubbed her forehead. "It makes me wonder if he sees me as a useless, fragile girl still."  
"What! None of us have _never_ thought that you were weak!" Tamaki grabbed her shoulders and shook her hysterically. "You are our Princess! No—you have kids now, so that makes you are our Queen—!"  
She punched him in the face, glaring. "I get it already, you're overdoing it." No matter what, Tamaki was always too much to deal with. "You're such a child—nh." It seemed that she was overdoing it as well.

"Haruhi!" They panicked.

"I'm fine, just doing too much is all." Haruhi cringed lightly before the twins came to her sides, offering her a hand. "Thank you Hikaru, Kaoru." They smiled proudly at her gratitude, and they led her back to the couch to get off her feet. "I can't believe how tiresome having triples is. And I'll be bigger than Tamaki's ego!" The men surrounding her chuckled at the statement—other than Tamaki who pouted.

"I don't have an ego!"

She smirked at this and looked at Tamaki. "Are you calling me a liar?"  
"I—" Tamaki could not call her a liar without getting from broken bones for it. "No."  
Mitsukuni smiled and clung to her arm curiously. "Do you know if they're boys or girls?"  
"No, not yet. I'll know in a few more weeks, though." Haruhi patted his head gently.  
Kyouya looked at her. "Until then, you should do your best to rest."

"I beg your pardon?" She glared at him sharply. "I don't care much for your attitude for me and my family, but while you're here, you best at least respect us or else you can go back into your little hole in Japan." Mitsukuni wisely released her and scooted away a bit. The passive-aggression was always faked, and it she was let loose, someone would get hurt. "I allowed you on this trip because there would be times where you might actually say something useful, and who better than to watch over Tamaki, huh?"

"…ruthless as always, Morinozuka Haruhi." He sat on the couch against the other wall, far from her.

Haruhi smirked almost confidently before a thought came to her, "…actually, Tamaki." She slowly got up to her feet with Mitsukuni at her side to make sure she would not fall. "You're the only one who can."  
"No way! You're going to trick me again, aren't you! Satoshi-kun and Mori-senpai would kill me if I let you get away with anything!" Tamaki was, as always, paranoid. "Unless this is a trap to test my ability—"  
"I only want you to play the piano for me at the moment." It was fun to see him act as if it was some sort of apocalypse all the time. "There is a grand piano in the library, which I was hoping you would play…"  
"Oh… of course I can do that! Let's go!" He skipped around merrily out of the room. "Last one there is a poor man! Ah—except Haruhi because she's pregnant and a girl!" When he turned around the corner…

"Let me kill him." Haruhi growled. "Please… just let me kill him."

"Come on Haruhi…" Hikaru smiled weakly. "You need to breathe, one deep inhale, three short—"  
Kaoru covered his mouth before her deadly aura faced them. "That's for labor you dummy!"  
Tamaki reappeared. "Haruhi! Which way is the library? I forgot!" He smiled happily at her.  
"Haru-chan, Haru-chan, happy thoughts!" Mitsukuni tried to calm her down. "Let's go, okay?"

She took in a deep inhale in order for the wave of insanity to wash off her shoulders.

With that done, Haruhi walked away and headed toward the library while everyone else followed. Whether it was to make sure Haruhi would not hurt herself or to protect Tamaki from being killed by said pregnant woman, no one knew. They entered the library where there were bookshelves lined against the walls except for one corner where the piano was angled properly. Tamaki nearly skipped his way to the piano and instantly played soft melodies to soothe Haruhi's nerves as she grabbed a book off one of the shelves before sitting on a rocking chair next to the grand piano. Nothing bad happened, so the men looked around for some good books before sitting on the dark brown leather couches to read for a while. It was finally peaceful; no words had to be spoken… no words needed to be spoke to enjoy the moment. Minutes went by until Haruhi closed her chapter book and stood up carefully. No one understood at first until they suddenly heard Hisako throwing a tantrum, crying like no tomorrow.

Mamoru, being sweet and innocent, led his grandmother into the library and pointed toward his mother who came walking over. Hisako was in Masayo's arms, screaming and crying until seeing her mother in sight and reached for her to be held. Tamaki stopped playing the piano without thinking as he watched as Haruhi did not take the needy child from the panicked mother-in-law. Hikaru and Kaoru were also a bit surprised, and were more curious at how their little sister was holding Mamoru's hand. Kyouya could care less and continued reading while toning out the obnoxious noises as Mitsukuni wanted to come over to cheer up his cousin's daughter… but was too afraid to interfere.

"Hisako, stop crying." Haruhi was firm but gentle. Her daughter continued to cry. "No."  
"M-M-Ma—m-ma…" She choked on a sob, trying to stop crying. "B-B-Ba… B-B-B—"  
"…Hisa-chan," understanding what she was trying to say with her words, she sighed.  
It was clear as Hisako used her hands to explain her desires better. "M-M-Mama… M—"

"Shh… I know," she took the little girl's hand and kissed it before taking her in her arms to rock her left and right slowly. "Do you want to hear Tama-oji play the piano?" Hisako nodded slowly, sniffling with a runny nose as her bright red eyes stopped producing tears of sorrow. "Want to sit next to him too?"

"Come to Tama-oji my Little Princess!" He opened his arms out happily. "You can sit on my lap!"

Haruhi looked at Hisako that reached out to Tamaki, "thank you, Tamaki." After giving her over to the tall blond-male, she walked over to Masayo and the two other children. "Mamoru, will you show Ageha your drawings?" The boy nodded. "Thank you, Sweetie." Just like the, the two toddlers left as asked.

Masayo looked at Haruhi, confused and worried. "Why was Hisako so upset? One minute we were…"

"She wants her father." Her arms crossed as she watched Tamaki play cheerful tunes as the little girl tried to play along with him. "They can sense everyone's emotions, so she's worried that Satoshi won't be coming home to her. Haruhi lowered her gaze. "At this rate… I won't know how to keep fighting."

"B-But you're a Morinozuka now!" With a wave of her hand, she laughed. "Haruhi, you're so silly!"

"Is it silly when it's a conspiracy to hide the fact that my husband is dead, Masayo?" Everything went dead silent as her form turned to her. "Tell me, does every Morinozuka family member have to lie?" As Masayo opened her mouth to speak, Haruhi raised her hand up so she would remain silent. "I wondered last night, what would rile up Takashi to the point of going on a rampage. See… financial trouble, no… he shrugs it off because he knows that he can fix it. But losing his brother—my husband, to a random incident where a woman was in trouble, _that_ would infuriate my brother." Masayo turned her gaze away, upset that all of this was not a secret as they had hoped it to be.

"…how did you know?"

"Your son forgot two things when he held the truth from me." She waited until she earned Masayo's attention. "My laptop. With internet access and a wealthy family, you know anything the split second something happens. Especially if someone dies." Haruhi turned away to grab the book to put back.

Worried, the woman had to ask. "The second?"

"I am Morinozuka Fujioka Haruhi, there's not a damn thing your sons could ever hide from me." That said, her form stood in front of her mother-in-law once again. "I know why he didn't want to tell me, but at the same time, what he did foremost was betray my trust. Granted, I'm pregnant, but I deserve the truth." Masayo opened her mouth to defend her son, but this time… Haruhi pointed a stern finger at her with a firm gaze. "Do not tell him about this conversation. As of yesterday, I _am_ the Second Head of this family by default to the lack of heirs and suitors. I am _telling_ you to leave Takashi to me." It felt as if the room dropped ten degrees, and almost everyone was nervous about the demon in Haruhi rising.

"I understand," Masayo bowed respectfully. Her reign as second in charge was due some time ago.

Mitsukuni looked back and forth between the two females; he was honestly afraid as to what would happen if things escalated any further. It was true that Haruhi had rights to take control at the side of her husband who was a fallback in case something ever happened to Takashi. However, he never expected her to know this, nor did he ever think that she would use it as a trump card to silence the woman in front of her. The reason was understandable, though, none of them knew that Satoshi was dead—they were trying to wrap their heads around it now! Masayo seemed to be ashamed of herself and started to cry in front of them as she began to mourn the loss of her son.

Haruhi, on the other hand, showed nothing on her face.

"Tamaki," she spoke without any hint of malice. "Please play the piano a little longer with Hisako."  
The blond nodded nervously, but grew concerned just as well. "What will you be doing?"  
"I've exhausted myself with reality, I'm going upstairs to rest before I miscarry."  
Hikaru and Kaoru stood up in unison. "We'll take you to your room then."  
"…thank you." The three were out of the library, slowly but surely.

Mitsukuni looked to Masayo worriedly. "Are you okay?"  
She sobbed at this. "Why did he marry such a demon!"  
"Really?" Kyouya glared at her. "Why is she a demon?"  
"Satoshi is dead and she won't even shed a tear for him!"

Annoyed, he slammed his book shut and stood up firmly. "Perhaps you forget, Masayo-san, but Haruhi is pregnant with your late son's offspring. She cannot afford to break down and weep like you. Haruhi can barely walk herself up and down the stairs that endanger her pregnancy with each step made, and you have the audacity of calling her a demon when she is so desperately trying to keep alive the very last thing that he gave her to treasure him by?" His head shook. "I apologize for my rudeness and my straight forward attitude when I say this, but…" He looked at her, glaring. "Haruhi does not need your self-centered negativity right now. For her best interest—and for the sake of your unborn grandchildren, I believe it would be best if you returned to Japan and wait there for your husband and your dead son."

* * *

"We have a problem." Akira stated after hanging up on his cell phone. "Your mother is going home."

Takashi looked at him in surprise, "why?" They needed her to watch over Haruhi for them!

His head shook. "She wouldn't say, only that it was best if she waited for us in Japan."

* * *

**A/N:** It might be about two weeks before I can update again. I am going to Utah for a few days next week.

Also, Haruhi is pregnant, so her mood swings are very unpredictable. But it'll be cleared up in the future.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** I apologize for this being a tad late, but considering that this is being updated 250% faster than any other story that I have posted... be happy!

Utah was hot and icky, then I came home and felt depressed about something, so I hadn't had the motivation to finish up the chapter.

Therefore, I added a few new twists to make things more interesting.

* * *

**Chapter 06**

**Second Chances**

**Now—**

Haruhi stirred awake from her nap.

It was a pain to be on bed rest so much, but it was to the point where she had to do it just to have some alone time to think about things. No one was allowed to tell the children about their father for the past week. Not until she had the opportunity to chew Takashi out. There was a knock on the door before it opened to reveal Ohtori Kyouya, ruining her moment of peace. She sat up in her bed to glare at him firmly. Already knowing where things were heading, she got up and placed on a robe. Quietly, he closed the door behind him to keep the conversation as private as possible.

"What do you want, Kyouya."  
"Still tempered about that day, huh?"  
"Excuse me? It was my wedding day."

"I tried to save you from the worst mistake of your life, marrying the wrong man." He walked over and sat on her bed, earning a dangerous glare in turn. "You know it's not fair to Senpai, to have him here at your side when his feelings were so strong for you. Now he's stuck having to play uncle to kids that he wanted with you." Kyouya shifted his glasses a bit, still talking. "What's even more interesting is that you know that, with your husband gone, he will feel obligated to stay at your side to keep all of you safe."

"Poor Kyouya, are you still upset that I rejected your proposal?" Haruhi gave him a pouty lip to taunt him. "I know what I'll do when the time comes. As for you, well… my tongue my slip about _that_ night."

His lips curved into a smirk. "You're a bitch."

"Perhaps," she came over and stared at him face to face. "But this bitch is pregnant, so telling Senpai that you almost raped me in high school at the beach _might_ just slip out when I least expect it, right?"

"It's frightening to see you so serious, Haruhi. But it's excites me all the more."

"You know what would excite me?" Haruhi smiled as she walked over to the door, opening. "Watching him strangle you for your sins." There the giant was with a fist in the air to knock on the door. He stared in disbelief at what he overhead; only able to hear what Kyouya almost did to her. "Welcome back." His attention turned to her, then at the bastard on her bed. "Leave him, I'm more concerned about Satoshi."

Kyouya smirked. "For someone I defended against their mother-in-law, it sounds like you want to kill me yourself." He stood up casually, walking over and slipping past them. "I'm going home since he's back."

Takashi grabbed him by the arm and threw him against the far wall of the hallway. "I don't think so."

She came over and placed a hand on his upper arm to calm him down. "Senpai, it's okay. As much as I want to catch him turn blue from suffocating, I don't need another man disappearing from my life right now." Takashi whipped around to look at her. "Let him leave so that we can talk about it in your room."

It took a minute for him to think things through, but eventually listened to his sister-in-law. However… he could not help but shove him a few yards away before facing Haruhi with concern. She motioned him to his door that he stood next to, luring him to open it and allow her inside before following her in. He did not want to be interrupted by any means, so he locked the door and motioned her to sit on his bed where it would be most comfortable. Already she winced in slight pain twice on the long journey to the bed, making him worry and hoped the conversation would not make her condition worse.

"…You know Satoshi is dead, don't you?" Her head nodded once. "Why didn't you tell me you knew?"

"More importantly, why didn't you tell me the moment you found out?" He looked away in shame as he stood before her seated form. "What hurt me the most was that I had to find out the truth through the computer, rather than finding out from my brother." Haruhi watched as his eyes closed. "Why did you want to hide the truth from me? Did I upset you to the point that you wouldn't even want to tell me—"

"No," Takashi knelt down on the floor in front of her in a blink of an eye. Hearing her think that she was made at him was terrifying. "Your pregnancy is to be handled delicately—I didn't want to put you in danger of a miscarriage." Without proper thinking, he grabbed her hands from her lap and placed his forehead against them. "I wanted to tell you the moment I found out… but, if you had miscarried—"

"Senpai," she sighed. "What's my name."  
His brows knitted together. "Fujioka Haruhi…"  
Her head shook. "Try again, what is my name?"  
"…Morinozuka Haruhi." He looked away.

"That's right, so shouldn't I get a _little_ more credit?" Takashi looked up at her, still upset. He knew that he betrayed her. He was even waiting for a punishment. "It's true that I can't properly sob or pour my heart out in tears without the possibility of a miscarriage. Until then, all I can do is meditate to control those emotions. But… I still had the right to know about my husband by _you_, not the internet."

He nodded sorely at the statement. "…I was going to tell you when I returned."  
"If something infuriates my big brother, I don't think I would rest until I knew why."  
"Ah." After all… she was surprisingly very family oriented sine having her first child.

"As of right now, I'm upset with you for two things." Takashi peeled himself away to show that she had his full attention. "One, you didn't tell me about my husband… and two, you didn't take me with you." He opened his mouth to speak, but she slowly stood up on her feet. "Because of that betrayal, I will only ask one thing from you, and one thing only." Haruhi walked to the window to see the world outside.

"Anything—name it."

"While you are his brother, he is my husband." She turned to face him. "I will be the one to hold his funeral, not you or your parents." Mortified by her daring wishes, he stumbled to his feet and hurried to her in hopes of having her reconsider. "He was taken from me, Takashi. Please don't take this away too."

The moment he saw her shed a tear despite doing her best to fight it back, it tore him apart inside, and nodded weakly as he felt himself wanting to cry just from watching her. After he silently agreed, Haruhi came forth and wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace… whispering soft gratitude for his cooperation. Takashi hugged her in return as they mourned the loss of their family member. A minute passed, then another, and he began to feel his chest getting slightly wet for some reason until it dawned on him that Haruhi was crying silent tears against him. Hearing she was… finally in his arms again, but it was too crude to think that there was any romance between them as they wished for Satoshi to return.

Life was a pain in the ass sometimes…

"After the funeral, you will go back to Japan without me."

* * *

_"That's his wife, right? The one that was a commoner?"  
"Look at that witch, she won't even cry for her own husband!"  
"Masayo-sama said the woman was pregnant, I bet it's not Satoshi's…"  
"I know right, Masayo-chan was right, that commoner is a demon in disguise."_

Takashi heard all of the stupid things that family members had to say about Haruhi, they knew nothing about her. Although he had to scold his mother for talking ill about her to others, he was more concerned for Haruhi even though he could not tend to her during the funeral. One wrong move or showing the slightest bit of emotion for her, and everyone might think that they were together behind Satoshi's back. Luckily, the funeral was almost over, but now there was a problem: Mamoru and Hisako.

All eyes watched as Haruhi came up and placed a white rose on the table in front of his picture, and Hisako—who clung to Haruhi in her arms, copied what she did. Mamoru did not like it one bit and ran over to the casket where his father was. Everyone panicked at the boy trying to jump up to see his father; no one wanted the boy to be traumatized by the sight of his dead parent. Takashi came over and scooped him up in his arms to take away from the casket before he could be scarred, but made it worse.

"No! Put me down!" The boy cried. It was the first time that his voice shrieked. "Mama! Mama help!"  
"Takashi," she called softly. Said giant turned to look at her. "Let him see his father, it'll be okay."  
As whispers were heard around the room about her being a poor mother, he nodded. "Ah."

Mamoru was brought back to the casket, and all eyes watched as he placed his white rose on his father's chest. "Happy Father's Day, Papa." With that done, he clung to his uncle and buried his face in his chest.

From thereon, there were no more incidents, and the funeral ended after another hour. Haruhi, on the other hand, was surprisingly nowhere in sight anymore, and Takashi grew worried. Her children were with their nanny who claimed that Haruhi went back to the villa to rest. It seemed odd that she would just up and walk away instead of face everything head on like she needed to. However, she was pregnant, but that was even more reason that she should not be alone. Something bugged him though…

He came over to his parents with a serious look in his eyes. "I have to find Haruhi, please tend to everyone in my place." As he turned, he paused and looked back at his mother. "Haruhi is _not_ a demon." Before she could retort, he ran out of the large tent and hurried through the sand when plenty of tripping and falling through the loose terrain. He always had a sixth sense for danger, and he sensed it. A servant saw him and quickly opened the door. "Haruhi!" Takashi looked left and right, nothing. "Haruhi!"

"Sir, please calm down." He turned to see the doctor. "It looked like she was going to have a panic attack, so I needed to calm her down by asking Suoh to play the piano for her in the library." The woman placed on her glasses to seem more professional toward him. "I understand that the loss of her husband is painful, but if it happens again, I don't know what more I can do to save her pregnancy."

"I'll try to talk her down."

"Yes… I'm sure you can with your… _condition_." She watched as he bristled defensively. "I'm a doctor of the Morinozuka family now. While I specialize myself in Haruhi-sama's needs, your background is an open book to me." It seemed her fear of the giant was gone now. "Seeing how you look at her, you want her for yourself, but you gave her to your younger brother instead so that he could do what you—"

"Back off."

The two jumped and turned to see Haruhi standing by the stairway with Tamaki at her side. Wisely, the doctor bowed and excused herself for the time being before she had to face the wrath of the pregnant woman. Takashi, on the other hand, looked like he had just seen a ghost. Tamaki whispered to Haruhi that he would go to the kitchen to fetch her some fruit to eat because she claimed that she was hungry earlier. Haruhi nodded with a soft 'thank you' before turning to her brother-in-law with a gentle gaze. It was painfully quiet; neither knew what to say since Haruhi obvious deflected a serious conversation.

"I heard you call for me, is everything okay?"  
He nodded slowly. "Are you alright?"  
"…I've been better." She could not lie to him.

Slightly relieved, he exhaled a tense sigh. "When you were nowhere in sight, I was worried that you were lying somewhere in pain." His hand came up and wiped off the sweat that he did not expect to have, only to earn a smile. "Next time you walk away, can you be sure to tell me where you're going?"

"Senpai—" He glared at her. "_Takashi_," she started over, emphasizing on his name almost dramatically. "Once majority of the family members leave and my husband returned to Japan, I expect you to return to the main house." The giant looked hurt by this. "I'll be fine here, I know that I'll get dozens of calls."

"I can't let you stay here alone."  
"I can't let you avoid your duties."  
He flinched. "I promised Satoshi t—"

"And you did a remarkable job, but the protection and care giving duties are no longer needed." Haruhi had to tread carefully with her words. She came forth and held his hands in hers. "I, Morinozuka Haruhi, hereby release you from your duties that my husband placed upon you." Her lips curved in a weak smile.

"Even if he didn't have me say the words, I—"

"I know, because that's the kind of man you are." It took her a moment to think about something. "Also, I apologize for that stupid woman, she had no right to trouble you with inconvenient words today."

As she turned to leave, Takashi turned the tables by holding her hands to keep her there a little longer. "What do you mean by 'inconvenient,' what she was mentioning was not serious." Haruhi gave him a look as if he was going to try lying to her, which caused him to worry. "…do you …do know about it?"

"About your problem, yes—" He practically ripped his hands away from her, unhappy by the answer. "Look at me." Takashi refused. She knew that he was mentally hurt by this. "Takashi, look at me." It did not surprise her that he refused. "I've known for years and it's never made me think any less of you." A few seconds later, he slowly turned his attention to her. "…are you ashamed by it?" He looked away sorely when she hit the nail on the head. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with you for being you."

"…tell that to any woman that comes near me."

"Anyone who judges you is a fool, besides…" She smirked. "They have to get through me and your mother first." His eyes rolled, but easily cracked a smile in return. "You're still Takashi no matter what, so don't let anyone put you down, okay?" He nodded weakly. "Good, I should probably go and find—"

"If you heard her talk about my problem, you heard the rest… didn't you."

Haruhi's eyes closed as she had hoped he did not realize that, by hearing the one part about his condition, she had to have heard what was after that. He placed a hand on her shoulder to have her look him face to face, but she refused to look at him. It was silent between them, there was nothing there to stop them from having the conversation that he brought up. Still, she nodded her answer to him, and it made him want to disappear. Takashi turned away to retreat to keep whatever dignity he had left—

"I knew that, too."

He froze.

"Takashi… I know that we need to have this conversation, but I'm at my limit right now with his death being so sudden, plus this pregnancy. I refuse to lose the last thing that Satoshi gave me." Takashi stayed there to listen to her with his back still facing her. "In all honesty, I hoped that I would never have to—"

"How long have you known?"

Her brown hues lowered to stare at the flooring, "high school."  
Out of nowhere, he turned to her and snapped. "That long?!"  
"Why are you angry toward me? What did I do wrong?"  
"You could have at least told me that you knew! I—"

Haruhi slapped him across the face. "No, _you_ could have told me. Don't you _dare_ pin this on me." She pointed a finger at his face. "I—nh!" Her body leaned forward, putting a hand over her womb. "I gave you a ch—nh!" As her form began to keel over, Takashi caught her and held her in his arms, terrified.

"Haruhi!" Tamaki cheered as he came out of the dining room. "I have—Haruhi!"

* * *

"She is _very_ lucky—I can't even explain to you how it's a miracle that she didn't miscarry from whatever just happened after I walked away." The woman glared fiercely at the Head of the Morinozuka Clan. "Her stress level, her blood pressure, and even her heart rate and pulse have been at dangerous levels since you left! Then to start fighting and bickering with her when you know that her pregnancy is risky as is?!" Takashi could not do anything other than stare at the floor in shame. "Would you be able to accept the fact that she would miscarry because of you? Miscarry your little brother's children?! Would you?!"

"…no."

Hearing how depressed he was for what happened, she sighed heavily before explaining. "Think of it as a high fever. If Haruhi-sama has a temperature of forty Celsius (104°F), then she is at risk of death unless she can be cooled down and treated quickly, but the moment it gets any higher than that, she will die." It began to filter through his mind, scaring him even more. "If her stress and other problems increase, she will hit that temperature, and she will definitely miscarry in a heartbeat." She turned to leave.

"What can I do to prevent that temperature from going higher?"

The doctor stopped before getting any farther than three steps, "keep her happy. No stress, no pressure, and certainly no fighting about anything no matter how serious it is… she needs to be as carefree as that airheaded Suoh that's in there with her." That said, she walked away. "As trivial as her words may be… if she even asks something as pick up a ball of lint off the ground…" She stopped again. "You pick that lint up. Because if you don't, it's possible that the disobedience from not listening to her can throw her over the edge and cause a miscarriage. Although it's not likely, you must think that way."

"…act like a personal servant?"

"Something like that." With this as her final sentence, she retreated elsewhere.

His hand raised and raked through his hair at the narrow escape; he could have easily thought of committing suicide if she had lost even one of the fetuses in her. Keep her happy… keep her happy. How do you keep a woman happy? She just lost her husband, became a widow, and a single mother to two great kids with three more on the way! Not only was it impossible to make her happy, it was impossible for _him_ to make her happy because of their argument. Haruhi knew that he liked her since high school! The humiliation was insane, and he could not even think of seeing her at the moment! Although, he had to… she was his brother's wife—he promised to take care of her and the kids…

As he reminded himself of his promise, he came over to the room in her personal infirmary and—

"Wow… so you knew that Mori-senpai liked you all these years?" Tamaki sounded completely surprised.

"You know, you're not one to talk, Tamaki. You've known even longer than I did." The pregnant woman sounded almost annoyed. "But, yes, I've known for some time now. It was a sore subject at first." There was a pause and a light screech of a chair as if Tamaki scooted closer to hear the story. "Look, he was at the university already, and I was on my way to the music room until I head Satoshi begging him for permission to date me. When he agreed, I was disappointed because I really liked Mori-senpai. Since he agreed, I assumed that he had no interest in me, and so I accepted Satoshi's offer to go on a date."

"…so," the blond tried to think it through. "You dated Satoshi-kun as a substitute for Senpai?"

Takashi wondered this himself and leaned against the wall beside the door.

"No, well, not that I recall at least. I genuinely agreed to give Satoshi a chance, and I had fun with him on all our dates." She paused as if recalling something from the past. "But about two months later… Hikaru, Kaoru, and I were on our way to the music room, we heard Mitsukuni and Senpai were fighting—verbally, that is. Mitsukuni was so upset that he moved aside for his brother's happiness and sacrificed his own." Takashi listened to her heavy sigh. "I felt stupid and I didn't know what to do, I almost broke up with Satoshi because I didn't want the family to fight anymore. Honestly, I understand Senpai's reasons—I really do, but sometimes I wish he could think more about himself than others…"

"Uh, I have a question Haruhi."  
She stifled a laugh."Yes, Tamaki?"  
"Why do you call him 'Senpai' still?"

Takashi practically smashed his face against the wall without knowing as he wanted to know if there was a reason behind her answer. "You can't tell anyone, okay?" Haruhi sounded gentle and kind where as Tamaki hummed agreeably with excitement when it started to sound like a secret. Even Takashi found himself nodding as a promise not to tell anyone. "I call him Senpai because it hurts less." It went silent. "When I call him Senpai or Nii-san, it reminds me that we _can_ be friends. When I call him Takashi, it's like walking on glass… I don't want to lead him, and I don't want to hurt him." There was a pause and some shifting inside the room. Soon, the door opened and she looked at him. "Do you understand now?"

Takashi felt bad that he was caught, but he understood now. "Ah."

Tamaki looked at the took back and forth. "…I'm gonna go eat."

* * *

**A/N: **Does anyone think they know Takashi's condition? Cookie to whoever gets it right!

Yes, this chapter was somewhat smashed together with chaos, trauma, drama, and a hint of relief. I want this story to be only 10-15 chapters!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **While I _do_ apologize for this chapter being a tad late, I have a valid reason. I am not the healthiest person in the world, and I'm trying to change it so that I can be a better person. So far, I've lost 12lbs (5.5kg) in two weeks and began slowing down to only losing a pound a day. Other than that, I've been heavily thinking about going to college soon, but I can only mentally focus on one thing at a time now.

* * *

**Chapter 07**

**Second Chances**

**Now—**

His steel blue gray hues stared at her for the first time in two months, and she was very, _very_ pregnant.

If he remembered correctly, she was six months pregnant on the dot, and that she was carrying identical girls. However, ever since the day she almost miscarried, Haruhi stopped revealing emotions to others—other than her own children. Due to the crazy events, he had to step down and allow Mitsukuni and Yasuchika care for her. They were terrified at first, but they warmed up to the thought when she stopped showing feelings. Of course, it was mostly because of the fact that she was protecting the girls growing inside her… otherwise, she would probably be a little friendlier… probably.

"Good morning, Nii-san." Haruhi spoke almost firmly before looking at the man beside him. "You must be the lawyer that Mitsukuni mentioned." The lawyer gulped nervously as he bowed his head. "I think it's amazing that my brother-in-law has allowed you to keep your job after the incident last year when you sullied the Morinozuka name." That said, she walked between the two men, entering the living room. "This way please, we'll discuss the matter in here while the children are upstairs."

"Y-Yes ma'am." To protect himself, he lifted his suitcase up to his chest.

Takashi was somewhat confused by the information he just heard. Rather, the information that was being withheld from him. He could not recall a problem that occurred a year ago, in fact, everything was exceptionally normal. It also turned out that her demon aura was intact when dealing with others without emotion. This was something that his cousins failed to mention; he could only pray that the lawyer of the Morinozuka family did not run back to the boat in fear.

"T-Thank you for l-letting me come." The man stood in the middle of the room, shaking like a leaf.

"I didn't." She turned to look at him. "Had I known that Satoshi chose you for this, I would have made him choose my lawyer." Carefully, she sat down with Yasuchika's help who had been waiting in the room for them. "Nii-san, you're probably unaware of this since I had to personally clean up the mess. The man in front of you allowed gossip to scatter across Japan, how his daughter was dating you and that she was pregnant." She did not need to look at the giant to know that he would be shocked. "While it's known that Satoshi and I did the dirty work to savor the family name until almost three months ago, we never thought it necessary to explain the situation when we reserved this man's… resignation."

It somehow began to ring a bell in his head… there was one time when Satoshi mentioned that Haruhi was being completely violent and wanted a lawyer to be removed from the business, but it was ignored because she never gave any information about it. Satoshi had also been quiet about it, but stated that he also did not understand why she wanted it dealt with.

Takashi cracked a weak smile; Haruhi was a Morinozuka through and through—

"Don't smile, it's disgusting." Haruhi glared. "I just told you that he was defiling your name."  
"A-Ah…" His facial expressions vanished and turned into a stoic wall of nothing. "Sorry."  
The lawyer gulped nervously. "T-The will your husband made was very simple, H-Haruhi-sama."  
"Then read it before I waste my breath on you." She obviously hated this man with a passion.  
"E-Everything except one notebook g-go to you and your children m-ma'am! The notebook goes t—"

"Notebook?" Her right brow raised curiously. "You mean his black notebook?"  
"Y-Yes… h-he's entrusting it to his brother, M-Morinozuka Takashi." He nearly jumped out of his skin when Yasuchika stepped forth to demand the papers. "A-Ah… h-here you go." It was taken easily.  
Haruhi smiled as she received the papers from the Haninozuka, "thank you, Chika-kun." She observed the files. "I doubt Satoshi would leave nothing for his parents, and give my brother a mere notebook."  
"I haven't tampered with it—he edit his will six months ago when he found out you were pregnant!" The lawyer was terrified. "B-But he mentioned something about a fight with Masayo-sama that month!"  
She looked up at him in surprise from the paperwork, then smiled. "I see…"

Takashi, on the other hand, had no idea what was going on. "A fight?"

"Yes… your mother was accusing me of choosing your brother over you for a certain reason that you're aware of. She slapped me, so I punched her in the face." Haruhi placed the papers to her lips. "Satoshi is giving me the power to do what I wish in this situation…" Her eyes closed softly. "Such a bastard…"

"B-By taking his position, H-Haruhi-sama… y-you work—"

"I'm well aware of my responsibilities, now get out of my villa." The man nodded quickly before bolting out on a run. "Insufficient good for nothing imbecile." She sighed before opening her eyes and looking at the papers in hand. "Well… with this permission, I almost want to bring him back just to kill him for it."

Yasuchika smirked. "He was the kind of guy that would make you feel that way…"

"Hn…" Haruhi slowly rose to her feet with his help. "Do me a favor and get _that_ for me, Chika-kun?" He nodded and left to do as asked. Her attention turned to Takashi, "he's going to get something for you to take back to Japan." That said, she turned to leave, only to have her hand taken in his. "What, Senpai?"

It had been two months since he last saw her, and she was in control of herself and emotions—well, her façade was intact at least. For the past few years, he would see her for about a week once or twice a year. Sometimes it was less if his schedule was out of control. Therefore, to see her so soon was nice, but he hated the circumstances in which they had to see each other for. His hand squeezed hers in hopes of getting her attention just for a moment so they could talk. Having left the night of the funeral like everyone else, he had no idea what the relationship would be like between them.

"My mother harassed you?"

"It's common for mothers to be protective. No one ever seems to believe me when I say that I'm not affected by your _condition_ as the family blatantly calls it." Takashi immediately shrank, and she smiled weakly. "Seeing you act shy is new to me, and it's actually cute." He turned red at this. "Sorry, I'll go—"  
"If I had been honest… had I told you that I had feelings for you, despite my problem, would you have accepted me?" Although he was embarrassed, he was dead serious. "Would you have been willing to date me and continued to have loved me the way you claim if you had known about the fact that I—"  
"I can't change the past, Takashi." She interrupted softly. "There are too many variables now that I can't answer for, but I _do_ know that I would have been accepting to all of you, just as I still am to this day." It became quiet, so she turned to leave, but he squeezed her hand a bit more. "Please, don't do this now."

Takashi pulled her closely, "…Haruhi."

"I don't want to want to hurt you, but if you don't let go of me, I'll break your hand." It took seconds for him to obey her demand, but he surely listened. "I will not betray my late husband, not even for you."

"I'm not asking for you to do that." She turned her attention to look at him. "I wanted to say that it was good to see you again, and to see that you're doing remarkably well without me by your side." Her gaze averted to hide the slight hurt she felt, which was noticed. "…did I say something wrong? I'm sorry, I—"

"No—it's nothing, I'm fine… t-the girls are kicking, that's all."  
"I thought you said no lying." He easily became hurt by this.  
"No, they're kicking," Haruhi took his hand and put it on her womb.  
"Wait, I—" In seconds, he could feel them moving around inside her.  
She smiled at the shocked expression on his face, then grimaced. "See? A kick."  
"Yes, but I know that wasn't the reason why you looked away from me though."

"Perhaps, but it would be best if we leave it at that." Even though she had replied to him, he was completely fascinated by the movement inside of her. It made her want to giggle like a girl and tease him about all of this. "S—" She sighed. "Takashi," he still focused on her belly. "You know… you can be with a woman and have a child together, even if you can't have any of your own." His attention turned to her seriously as he withdrew his hand from her body. "I can see that it bothers you a lot, but there's no reason to let it take control over you. You _can_ be happy with a woman, with or without kids."

"Taka-ojii!" Mamoru cheered, storming through the living room from the hall to greet him.  
"Tata-obi!" Hisako called as she crawled her way to him with a pink stuffed animal in hand.  
Takashi picked them up with a weak smile. "There's only one woman I ever wanted."

Haruhi opened her mouth to disapprove his words, but those were his true feelings. Instead, she watched him cuddle the kids a bit and sat down on the sofa with them as they told them what they had done so far for the day. Seeing him handle his niece and nephew with such care was the reason why she knew that he would one day be a great father. Satoshi's smile flashed before her eyes and she quickly looked away. On his way into the room, Yasuchika saw her look away in pain. He set the item down on the nearest table in order to run to her side in worry and panic.

"Are you okay? Kidney shot?" His eyes looked her over. "Not a contraction, right?"  
"…I'm fine, I… I'm going to go to the library to read. Please give it to your cousin."  
"But—" She was already gone. "…okay." He turned and grabbed the item. "Here…"  
Takashi looked at it. "A vase?" He looked at it suspiciously as he set the kids aside.

"Don't be foolish, it's Satoshi's urn." In that moment, everything changed. "It was last minute, but she knew that he wanted to be cremated. The funeral was more of a memorial and a parting favor for him."

"Why give it to me? Haruhi—"  
"—wants you to take it home to Japan. "  
"I can't do that to her, Satoshi is her husband."  
"But he's also a brother… and a son. Just take it."  
Takashi hand to think about it, but declined. "I can't."

"Fine, but I'm _not_ going to be the one to tell Haruhi that _you_ refuse to take it." The blond set the urn back on the table. "I'm sure you already learned not to challenge her, right? Especially when pregnant?"

"…ah.

* * *

In the end, he accepted the urn in fear of the wrath of the pregnant Morinozuka Haruhi. However, he had to stay the night to rest before returning to Japan, otherwise he would arrive and look like a mess. He came out of the shower, drying his hair before his body, and looked at himself in the mirror as he was in deep thought about Haruhi's words. To hear that she would have accepted him all this time, but she was right… there was no need to dwell on the past. With his hair dry, he shifted the towel to set on his shoulders as he continued to stare at his reflection. The fact that he still wanted his late brother's wife after all the events, it made him sick to his stomach. Takashi hated himself for wanting her so badly after everything that had happened, so badly that he punched the mirror aggressively. It did not make him feel any better, but he was tired of wanting things he could not have. Instead of dwelling on what he could not have, he left the bathroom and got dressed without realizing his right hand was bleeding.

As he headed for bed, he heard Hisako crying.

Not even thinking, he hurried out and started to go into the nursery. Mitsukuni was already in the room making silly faces at the little girl before singing a song and doing a little dance for her. The giant was relieved to see that everything was settled, and turned to go to bed, only to see Haruhi with a knowing gaze. She motioned her head to her bedroom before walking away as an indication for him to follow. To stay alive longer, he obeyed by walking no more than a meter near her as they went inside the room.

"I will be absolutely honest with you right now." Her hand patted her desk chair for him to sit on as she somewhat waddled over to her bed to do the same. "With Satoshi gone, I'm thinking about returning to Japan for multiple reasons." His face lit up as he seated himself, facing her. "Mitsukuni's been away from his girlfriend long enough, and he wants to settle down with her. I can't have Chika-kun by himself with a hormonal pregnant woman either. So, I think it's only appropriate that the kids and I return."

His head nodded as he did his best to hold back his excitement. "I'll have a room prepared for you—"  
"No," she interrupted gently as she placed a hand on her engorged belly. "But I do have a favor to ask."  
"Anything." The fact that she was finally considering the idea of coming home was a blessing.  
"I intend to move in with my father." Hearing this, his face fell. "You're slow sometimes, you know?"  
"…you've stated that a few times over the last decade, yes." Takashi tried not to sound bitter about it.

"Well if you're going to be sour about the idea, I can stay here." Seeing his eyes widen in horror was nearly priceless, but she sighed softly. "I was going to ask you, so have a residential home for me, my father, and my children within the Morinozuka estate." His mouth opened, but she continued. "Not the main house, just… maybe a house near it or something—but if there's no availability, we can get an—"

"There's one next to it, it's yours if you want it." He had to ask. "Why not the main house though?"

"One, I'll kill your mother. Two, I don't want to bother your father's dojo sessions. Three, well… I think you know why I need to keep my space from you." His head dipped in depression. "You're a very passionate man, Takashi. You should really go out into the world and find a woman to get to know."

"The only woman that needs to know me, my misfortune, and my sterile presence… is you."

"You never know until you go out and look for someone else. Is that really the problem? You don't want to search for a woman because your sterile, or is it that you don't want to disappoint anyone?" Haruhi watched as he shook his head. "It would help me understand if you told me what the problem was—"

"I want you—I _still_ want you, but I can't _have_ you."  
"…will me returning to Japan make it worse for you?"  
He knew this question would come. "I want you in Japan."  
"Distant waters don't quench the thirst as fast, though."  
"May I ask a question." She nodded. "Can you love me?"  
"Of course, you're my brother-in-law, what w—"

"Can you love me as a man, romantically." Although he knew that she was pretending to be clueless, he did not want to sound like the bad guy. "If there was one thing I knew about Satoshi, it was that he never wanted you to be alone." His attention turned away, "…he would want you to move on, Haruhi."  
"That doesn't make it okay to be with his brother, the man that he had looked up to the moment he was born." She smiled weakly. "It's also your image that I'm concerned about. The Morinozuka family might not take kindly to me jumping to one brother to the next." His mouth opened to object. "Don't deny it."  
Sometimes, Takashi hated that she was so smart. "I don't care what they think. I fell in love with you before Satoshi even knew that you existed!" He practically jumped at his own vocalized angry, looked away, sighing tiredly. "My negative energy is not good for your pregnancy… may I be excused?"

"You're such a handful." Haruhi smiled weakly. "Before Satoshi's funeral, you never wanted to talk about your feelings—so much as letting us date, get married, and have kids." She stood up slowly and walked over to him with a hand on her stomach. "I think it's terrible that you find the courage to fight for my attention after all these years, especially with Satoshi gone." In that instant, Takashi became depressed at the words; he felt like a huge jerk. "But," hearing this made him feel hopeful. He looked up at her with a sad frown. "To hear of your devotion for me lasting since high school… it's very flattering, thank you."

In a sense, it seemed that the conversation was nothing but a big tease. He could recall how she described Satoshi before his trip; a childish man with too much ambition and not enough ground. If he had know that his brother would have been so foolish, he would have hit him over the head enough times for him to learn how to treat a woman right. Although, saying that now what pointless. There was not much he wanted to change; a handsome nephew, a beautiful niece, and three more on the way…

Satoshi may be gone, but Takashi was damn well going to help raise his kids!

"I haven't seen _that_ look in a long time." His attention drew to her as he pondered on what she meant. "Whatever you were just thinking of, it made you want to fight for it. Truth be told, I thought the Wild Host in you died out after the Host Club was discontinued." She rustled his hair. "Nice to see that side of you again." As she turned to go back to her back, he carefully grabbed her right hand before she left.

"I'll fight for you, now more than ever."

"You intend to fight for me—who's your opponent, the memory of my late husband?" The split second of determination that he had was deflated almost instantly. She raised a brow curiously as he faced the desk in disappointment, but could not help but smile weakly. "Even if you did, we would both be tainting his memory." Takashi did not seem too happy about hearing this. "Look, I know that you're a virgin in every way—" His eyes turned to her, hurt at the reminder. "But, I don't think a kiss would be that bad."

A kiss, with her? The thought of it made him blush.

"The reason why I wanted you to leave before, is because hormones go crazy. Normally I would have sex to fight—" Seeing his face almost glow bright red made her start over. "Anyway… how do I say this…" She looked away. "I can't say for certain if I'll be willing after the girls are born since I'll have to feed them a lot, but…" Haruhi bit her bottom lip. "As rude as it sounds, maybe I can turn my back one time, to let you experience what you haven't already." Takashi looked completely confused. "I'm not making any promises, though. I just feel guilty that you've always been holding a torch for me, that's all."

He smiled softly with a weak nod.

"But, I want something in turn, but it's for you." At that moment, Takashi knew that he was about to be in trouble. "If being sterile is really that big of an issue, I want you to get tested one more time, and see if whether or not it's treatable." His mouth opened to defend himself. "If you don't, I won't go to Japan."

Demon. It was the first word that came to his mind. Haruhi knew how to control him in every way that mattered, and it drove him insane. To have her close meant to face his nightmares in more than one way. As hopeful as he was about having sexual intercourse, he was doubtful, but grateful for the offer. She crossed her arms as she waited for an answer, which made it harder for him to think properly. He did not want to go through everything again as he did when he was in middle school, but… he would…

For her.

"…one test?"  
"Just one."  
"…okay."

* * *

**A/N:** I've been having a bit of a writer's block for this and every other story I have. But I will do my best. Please wish me luck on better health. It'll motivate me in working harder during the day and working on fanfics at night!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** I do sincerely apologize for the long wait, but as I continue to mention, there are other stories of mine that are waiting an even longer period than this!

Furthermore, the reason for my procrastination is that I am now a college student after putting off the thought of it for the last five years. I still haven't received my textbooks yet, but I have already ready the study guide of Stage 1, so... I have to wait patiently for it.

That being said, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 08**

**Second Chances**

**Now—**

"Well, this is certainly a surprise." The male doctor announced with the surprise lingering in his voice. "When I saw the chart saying you were here for an infertility test, I thought I… imagined… uh—" He blinked as he looked at the person beside the seated giant. "Um… and w-who are you ma'am?"

"Morinozuka Haruhi," Takashi answered quickly before she could snap at him. "My sister-in-law."  
"Oh… I see, well, congratulations on your pregnancy." He smiled and turned to him. "Will she watch?"  
Steel blue gray hues turned to her, then the doctor, "I would prefer it if she was here with me."

"If that's what you want, whatever makes you comfortable." The doctor looked at his charts. "We can start with a physical to see if there's any damage to your testicles and whatnot. If I can't find anything wrong, then we'll go ahead and do a sperm analysis." He put the charts aside and put on some gloves. "If you don't mind, Morinozuka-sama, I'll ask you to drop your trousers so we may begin the exam."

Haruhi heard this and looked at her brother. "Do you want me to leave?" His head shook; wanting her to be there for support. She flinched for a moment and looked to the doctor. "May I sit on your chair?"

Being eight months pregnant was a lot harder with triples than it was with just one. Luckily, the man nodded, so she went across the room to sit while Takashi removed his pants and boxers. She looked at the clock for the longest time, which made the giant believe that she did not want to be present. He did not want her to be there either, it was embarrassing, but she was the only thing that was convincing him to go through with it. The doctor began to inspect him, poking and fondling to see if there were and problems. Being touched downstairs by another man was not his idea of fun, and he tried to stay calm.

"So far, everything seems normal, and your testicles seemed to be about the right size for you."

Just before Takashi could get embarrassed, Haruhi began to talk. "Is it possible that his amount of stress has been a problem?" The men both turned to her curiously. She glared at the doctor. "The combination of the stress he has and the overexertion in his exercises, do they affect his condition or not, Sensei?"

"Y-Y-Yes ma'am." He turned to look at Takashi, wondering how he could survive being near such a woman. "T-Those are very common for infertility." The devil was behind him, ready to take him to Hell.

She flinched again, and looked at the clock. "…Takashi, I truly apologize, but I have to leave now."  
"…are you okay?" For a while now, it seemed that she was a bit weird. "Is something wrong?"  
Haruhi smiled sheepishly. "No… it's just that I'm starting to get contractions, so I need to hurry."  
His brows fused in confusion as the doctor was surprised. "Do you need me to call for a wheelchair?"  
"No, no, I should be able to—" her face scrunched. "Yeah… probably, that would be nice…"

"Sorry Morinozuka-sama, give me a minute. You can put your clothes back on for now." He came over to the phone and made a quick call. "I have a pregnant woman in early labor in room 312, I need a wheelchair immediately and a team on standby in the birthing center." Once complied, he hung up.

"Labor?" Takashi began to process things and paled. "Their coming now?"  
She frowned at him. "I was hoping it was false—I didn't want to interrupt your appointment."  
"Haruhi…" he put his clothes back on. "Your girls are more important than my infertility."  
"It doesn't seem to matter anymore, they want to come right now." There was a knock on the door.  
It was a nurse, "someone asked for a wheelchair?" Haruhi stood up. "Haruhi-sama, you seem well."  
"I will be when this is over, the contractions are another way to kill a woman from inside, I swear."  
She laughed. "Well then, I've informed your doctor and everything's being prepared. Shall we?"  
"Yes, thank you." Her attention turned to Takashi. "You can come, just don't faint."  
Takashi, trying to buckle his pants, hurried to her side to be her support. "I won't leave you."  
"Guess you'll have to reschedule your appointment for later, sorry."

"You first."

* * *

He fainted, twice.

Takashi did not know if it was because he watched the doctor pull a messy baby from Haruhi's nether region… or because the woman going through labor nearly broke his hand when holding it. When he came to, Haruhi was giving birth to the last girl, and offered him to cut the cord now that he was awake. Although he cut the cord as asked, seeing another bloody baby and the doctors covered in it, he fainted and hit his head on the counter behind him. This made him a patient for the day, but Haruhi insisted on letting him share a room with her due to being family…

At the moment, Takashi was barely waking as he watched as Tamaki and the twins crowded Haruhi's hospital bed with balloons, flowers, and boxes chocolate. She seemed accepting of their antics for the most part, but she looked a bit tired. He looked left and right, noticing that the girls were nowhere in sight. Takashi jumped of his hospital bed and looked around in worry. They looked at him curiously, wondering why he was so alert. No one else seemed to be panicking about the missing newborns…

Haruhi quickly understood and smiled weakly at his amount of concern. "Satoko, Kotoko, and Takako are in the nursery. They're safe." Almost instantly, he settled down. "When I have a little more energy, I'll take you to go see them." The other three raised their hands in hopes of seeing the newborns. "Nope, only family, he can see them because he's their uncle." Actually, they could see them, but she did not want to deal with everyone fusing over the girls. "In fact… I think it's time for another small nap."

Hearing that she wanted to rest, the others had no choice but to leave or else they would either have to face Takashi's fury, or worse… hers. They said that they would visit tomorrow as they walked out the door, and carefully closed it behind them so that it would not manage to slam shut somehow. Once they were out of sight, Haruhi sighed tiredly and bundled up under the cover to do as she said she would. It was not that she was exhausted or felt the need to rest, she just knew that she needed her strength for later. As she began to doze off, Takashi stood from his hospital bed—stirring her wide awake again.

"…sorry."

"No… it's okay." She inhaled delicately and pointed to a door. "The bathroom is there."  
It did not surprise him that she knew what he needed after waking. "Are you okay?"  
"…Takashi, _never_ ask a woman that question after giving birth, do you understand?"  
His head nodded slowly in fear of being punished. "A-Ah." He headed to the restroom.

"Your doctor came in after we were settled in here to reschedule, when you're finished, you should call him." Her gaze focused elsewhere. "He also believes that it's a mental block for you and wants you to see a shrink. Naturally, I would've been on him for suggesting it, but it might not be a bad thing if—"

"I refuse." Takashi interrupted sharply. When he realized that he nearly snapped at her, he felt bad. "I'm sorry," he stared at the floor. "Talking to others… especially about myself, is not easy for me to do."  
"You talk fine with me, I haven't seen your old habits in some time now." His cheeks reddened as if to tell her that she was special enough to receive a full sentence from him. "Senpai, I have faith in you."  
Although it helped him to hear her say this, he could not reply, so he went to the bathroom to push the topic aside. After he finished and washed his hands, he came out to see tears in her eyes. "Haruhi…"

She looked at him tiredly. "Yes?" It seemed that she did not realize that she was crying, so he came over and wiped her eyes for her. "Oh—I'm so tired that I didn't know, sorry." Haruhi wiped her eyes slowly.

"It's my fault." Takashi grabbed a chair and sat at her side. "I was rude, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have walked away from the conversation. I didn't want to talk about it because I don't like talking to others about personal problems or anything that has to do with me." She was taken aback by how fast he was talking to her—it was almost difficult to keep up. "If it will make you feel better, then I'll schedule to see a—"

"Shh… stop, it's okay."

Very carefully, she shifted her body to sit upward in order to talk to him appropriately. It allowed her to see that it looked as if he was about to have a panic attack just because of a little tear he saw from exhaustion. Her hand came forth to caress his head so that he knew she was not mad or had any negative emotions toward him. He slowly relaxed at her touch and eventually closed his eyes as a sign of his trust for her once he was fully calmed down to start over the conversation.

"If you don't want to talk about things with a professional, no one is going to force you." Haruhi's hand glided down his face to hold his right cheek. "But if you want to understand the root problem of your infertility, you must deal with the urologist in order to take the next step." He nodded stubbornly.

Takashi pulled out his phone to get in touch with the doctor personally. "If you have a moment, I would like to finish the exam?" The doctor agreed and claimed to be there in a few minutes. "Thank you."

The moment he put the phone in his pocket, she smiled at him. "Good for you."

Although the doctor said minutes, there was a knock on the door, followed by a cautious doctor. "Hello, congratulations on the triplets." Haruhi nodded her head before a female nurse walked in with the paperwork. "I hope you don't mind that I brought my assistant, we've been busy with other patients."

Haruhi saw the look of disapproval on her brother's face. "Seeing as I just gave birth and his exam is obviously going to be done in this room, I kindly refuse the thought of another woman near me."  
"A-Ah… now that I think about it… Morinozuka Satoshi-sama once mentioned that you were hostile around other women after giving birth." He smiled weakly to his assistant. "I'm sorry Suzuki-san."  
"Not a problem, Sensei. If you need anything, let me know." The woman left without another word and Takashi allowed a heavy sigh of relief escape from his lips, earning their attention almost instantly.  
"Oh, my apologies." The doctor looked at the charts the nurse gave him before leaving. "I didn't think she would cause a problem since you were insistent of Haruhi-sama's presence earlier during the day."

"…only Haruhi." He mumbled under his breath.

Said woman smiled as she rustled his hair once more before bundling herself for a nap so that Takashi could have a bit more privacy. The doctor had him drop his bottom clothes down after they relocated to his bed to restart the exam again. Just as before, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary that he could tell. It was time for a semen analysis, which the doctor provided a container for Takashi to use when he entered the restroom. Once the door closed, Haruhi shifted to look at the doctor in a cranky fashion.

She decided to ask despite knowing the answer. "Are there marks on his testicles, such as punctures?"  
Instantly, the doctor was taken by surprise, but regained his composure. "Sorry… I can't answer that."  
Her head shook in annoyance. "If my assumptions correct, I don't believe he'll produce any sperm."  
This got his attention. "Do you have an idea as to his infertility?" Haruhi lowered her gaze in silence.

"Just one—" the door opened with an annoyed man coming out with an empty container. "Takashi…"  
"Can't…" He looked away; almost ashamed that he could not produce a sample that was needed.  
"It's barely been two minutes, though." Haruhi turned to the doctor. "Do you have any magazines?"  
The doctor cringed. "Yes, but they're down two floors where the procedure is normally done, Ma'am."  
"I understand, can you excuse us for a moment then so that I can talk to my brother in private?"

He looked to Takashi who nodded slowly; unsure if he would not be helped or lectured by the woman. It was out of the man's hands, so he stood up while announcing that he would wait outside for them. Haruhi thanked him briefly before the door closed behind him. Her form sat up slowly while still leaning upright against the bed as he came closer to hear what she had to say to him. There was a good chance that the doctor was trying to listen to the conversation, which was something he wanted to avoid.

"What's wrong?"

Takashi tried to avoid her gaze. "Uncomfortable."  
"If you want them to understand what's wrong, they need to analyze your semen."  
His face turned red when hearing her say this. "A-Ah… I know…" He still hated it though.  
Haruhi frowned at this. "Do you feel pressured into this, or am I making you uneasy?"  
"…pressured …humiliated." It was amazing he could admit this to her right now.

"Satoshi had an analysis done a few years ago." This earned her the giant's attention. "He was so scared about giving a sample, but he was worried that we could never conceive the proper way. I gave him so much grief for being uptight and paranoid that he couldn't even provide the doctors a sample. My point is, this procedure is very common, and it's only to help you. Even your brother faced his fears of it."

"How?"

The question had her look away a bit. "…I helped him." She almost smirked. "Magazines, porn videos, nothing helped him, and your mom even walked in and scarred him when he had his pants down." Takashi snorted at the thought of his late brother being caught. "That aside, I believe it's important that you give them a sample." He looked at her, and she rubbed his arm. "I'm concerned about something."

"Concerned?"

"It's a long shot, and I could be wrong. But first things first, you need to give a donation into that container." His face became heated again; she was teasing him and he knew it. "Do you want help?"  
"I can't ask that, you married Satoshi…" In his mind, his was crying to be touched or handled by her. "To betray him after death is—" she began to sit up to face him, and he quickly helped her. "…Haruhi."  
"You have never been with a woman intimately, so I won't have to touch you there to get you riled up. Go lock the door so you won't have any visitors for a moment." Instantly, he did as he was instructed.  
Thinking that she was going to do something to get him excited was already a turn on, but he was also terrified of being close to her while having to deliver a semen sample. "…I'm …nervous." He swallowed.

"You're okay, unless you don't trust me with your body, then it's—"

"I trust you."

Haruhi smiled softly before motioning him to her, "you'd be surprise, Senpai." Once he was in reach, she carefully shifted him around carefully. "The fact that you're a masochist makes you a playful target." Before he could ask what she meant, his skin crawled in delight as her hands snaked under his shirt to caress his abs in a tantalizing manner. "Ease into it, you're okay." Takashi felt himself wanting to create friction for himself, and more so when she rose her fingers to his nipples to tweak them. His back began to arch as he felt the need to release. "Are you at your limit without even having the container open?"

Takashi blushed more as he was enjoying the attention too much to remember that detail. He twisted it open and unzipped his pants for easy access. His hands stroked the throbbing fiend, but it was not working as the thought it would. The moment a disgruntled tone escaped his lips, she slid her hands down his chest to his lower abs. Her hands began to graze his pubic hair, and his knees began to buckle at the foreign sensation, but it did the trick. With a sigh of relief from him, she pulled her hands away and tucked herself back in for a nap as she had been trying to for twenty minutes. It dawned on him that she was probably severely sore and that she was exerting her body more than necessary. However, after a brief taste of her attention… he was beginning to crave for more of it. It took a moment for him to care or acknowledge the doctor still waiting patiently outside the room, but Takashi unlocked the door to open and handed him the container without a word.

"Thank you," the doctor spoke quietly. "Did she go to sleep already?"  
"Yes, she's tired and needs her rest." He would not let him back in.  
"I understand completely. It's just that… she seemed onto something."  
Takashi did not understand what he meant by this. "It will have to wait."  
His head nodded. "I'll put a rush order on this for quick results for you."

With a final grunt and a nod, Takashi closed the door so Haruhi could rest for as long as she needed. To his surprise though, she only rested for thirty minutes before sitting back up with a hint of pain. Her gaze landed on the wheelchair across the room long and hard—as if debating whether it would come to her or if she had to get it herself. The moment she started to try standing on her own, Takashi grabbed the wheelchair and brought it to her in order to protect her from harming herself. He even picked her up and carefully placed her on the chair in hopes of lessening her pain from moving around too much.

"Restroom?"

"No," she exhaled tiredly. "The nursery." Her attention turned upward to see the surprised look on his face. "I think it's about time you met your nieces, right? I think you'll bond well with Takako even."

"…Takako?"

"Kotoko after my mother, Satoko after Satoshi, and Takako after Takashi. After all, you cut Takako's umbilical cord." Judging by the look in his eyes, he was completely taken back. "With Satoshi gone, I have a feeling that you'll do your best to spoil them rotten." His head nodded dumbly. "Well then, let's go. The nursery is just down the corner, and I'm sure that they will be hungry." The poor guy was still shocked from the honor of having a child named after him, in a sense. "Takashi." Said giant looked down at her. "Can we go to the nursery now? Or did you want to stay behind and protect the hospital beds?"

"A-Ah, sorry."

He took the brakes off the wheelchair and guided her to the door where he opened it with one hand and scooted her out as carefully as possible. There they were instantly greeted by his parents who were ecstatic about the newborns. They had pink balloons and gifts ready for the girls since Haruhi did not have a baby shower or anyway to celebrate the future Morinozuka girls. Haruhi asked them to set the items in the room after announcing that they were on their way to see the girls over in the nursery. Akira took everything to place inside, only to notice that there were two hospital beds, and then realized that his son was sporting a bandage wraps on his head for some reason.

"What happened?" He looked at them back and forth.

Takashi did not understand what he meant, but Haruhi did. "We were here for his appointment, but I went into labor. Takashi felt obligated to come with me to be at my side during delivery. Unfortunately, he couldn't take it too well and became light-headed after cutting an umbilical cord, then unfortunately hit his head on the way down." Akira and Masayo nodded quietly. "Would you like to see them now?"

Before his wife could say anything, Akira spoke. "Absolutely."

They left the room as a group as Haruhi gave them directions of which way to go. A nurse was just walking in when seeing them coming over for a visit and allowed Haruhi and Masayo inside while Takashi and Akira watched from the window. As Haruhi picked up a child to breastfeed, but Takashi noticed that Haruhi was giving his mother a dangerous glare as she picked up one of the other girls.

"Haruhi looks as if she'll attack Mother."

"Yes, well… the blood between them isn't particularly grand after all." Akira was also watching them carefully. "You probably don't know, but Masayo and Haruhi had an altercation the night before their wedding." He looked over at his son. "She admitted to loving both of you, and your mother assumed that she chose your brother because you were infertile." Takashi turned to him. "It was not because of your condition, but it was because you allowed Satoshi to take her from you. You pulled away from having your own happiness with the woman that you both love so dearly." Hearing this, Takashi watched as the girls bonded. "I know you still love her, even after what happened to Satoshi. If you choose to pursue her now, I won't scold you for it. However, remember that she's still grieving."

"…aren't we all." He whispered before watching his mother set the newborn down and came out.  
Her smile was from ear to ear after handling the baby. "It's your turn, Takashi, they're adorable."  
It was brief, but he festered with a bit of aggression toward her, yet pushed it aside. "Thank you."

Once maneuvering around her, he slowly entered the room in order to continue the peace in the nursery. There were three other newborns in the room, but as he got closer to Haruhi, none were cuter than his three nieces. He looked at the names on the wrist bands: Morinozuka Satoko and Morinozuka Takako. So in Haruhi's arms must have been Kotoko, but he refused to look at her because her right breast was partly exposed due to feeding the child. To keep his mind focused, he stared at the two that were waiting in line to be fed, only to see that Haruhi was putting Kotoko back to rest for a little.

"Would you like to hold one of them?" Haruhi smiled softly, only to stare at her in horror. "Would you like to hold Takako while I feed Satoko?" His head shook quickly. "You're not _scared_ of an infant, right?"  
"Terrified." He corrected. "I don't want to hurt them."  
"You'll hurt them by denying them of their uncle's attention." Hearing this, he seemed more agreeable. She slowly got up from her wheelchair and picked up Takako. "Cradle her and be mindful of her head."  
"I-I can't…" As the girl came closer to his arms, he panicked.  
"You'll do fine, I have faith in you." Haruhi waited to watch the confidence grow in his eyes, and she placed the girl in his arms. "There you go, it's not that hard." She turned away to pick up Satoko."  
"Wait—what do I do?" Takashi felt a knot in his chest. "Haru—"

"Just hold her and keep her close. Sway her gently side to side and talk to her."

It was obvious that the mother of his nieces was not going to save him from the new experience, but he looked to the little creature in his arms, and subconsciously caressed her small squishy face with a finger. Her left arm flapped once with a tiny fuss, but her tiny little hand found his finger, and held onto it weakly. Takashi stared in amazement that Takako's hand could barely wrap around the tip of his finger because she was so small. The moment that she took his finger, the little girl stopped fussing whereas Haruhi hummed with interest. He looked over at her to see that she was obviously amused by his little fascination with the little bundle in his arms. Whatever anger toward his mother had vanished instantly.

"I understand that Satoshi is no longer among us." Takashi started quietly. "…but, will you allow me to be in their lives regardless?" On her face was nothing but a gentle smile as she nodded softly to him.

"Even if Satoshi was here, I would still want you to bond with them."

"…thank you."

* * *

**A/N:** Hope you enjoyed the chapter. In all honesty, I was also stuck after Takashi fainted. What do you think of their names?


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